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RESEARCHES , 



PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN, 



CONCERNING THE 



ABORIGINAL HISTORY OF AMERICA 



BY J II McCULLOH, JR,, M= D 



BALTIMORE! 
PUBLISHED BY FIELDING LUC AS ; JR 

1899. 



District of Maryland , to wit: 

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirty-first day of October, in the fifty-fourth year 
of the independence of the United States of America, James H. McCulJoh, Jr., M. D. of the 
said District, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as au- 
thor, in the words following, to wit: 

"Researches, Philosophical and Antiquarian, concerning the Aboriginal history of America. 
By J. H. McCulloh, Jr., M. D." 

In conformity with the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An act for the 
encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors 
and proprietors of such copies, during the ti mes therein mentioned:" and also to the Act, entitled 
"An Act supplementary to the Act, entitled 'An Act for the encouragement of learning, by- 
securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors ot such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, 
engraving and etching historical and other prints." 



PHILIP MOORE, 

Clerk of the District of Maryland. 



J. D. TOY. PRT>T. 




TO THE 



REVEREND GEORGE STANLEY FABER, B. D. 
Rector of Long-Newton, [England. ) 

Sir: 

Whatever may have been the use of a dedication 
in former times, it has now become of little impor- 
tance, except as it enables an author to bestow his 
greatest compliment upon an esteemed friend, or some 
distinguished and honourable personage. In the ex- 
ercise of my privilege in this particular, I feel gratifi- 
ed to have the opportunity to render homage to your 
name, as the author of several works upon subjects 
connected with the early history of man, and which 
you have so admirably investigated. 

In my labours among the ancient monuments of 
the human race, I entered the interesting field of re- 
search by a route different from that by which you 
had made such great advances. It was therefore 
with the highest satisfaction that I have from time 
to time found myself in a path on which your steps 
had been impressed, and which often while I hesi- 
2 



iv DEDICATION. 

tated amid perplexed routes, shewed the proper 
course I should pursue. 

This expression of my respectful esteem, is, there- 
fore, not only elicited from the sympathy of congenial 
studies, but from a sense of obligation for the benefits 
I have derived from your literary labours. 

That you may long enjoy reputation and every 
happiness, is the earnest wish of him, who with all 
respect, thus introduces himself to your notice, and 
desires to be numbered with your well-wishers and 
friends. 

I remain, Sir, 

Your obedient humble servant, 

J. H. McCULLOH, M.D. 

Baltimore, October 31, 1829. 



PREFACE. 



As the author of the following pages is conscious 
that this essay falls short of being complete in its ex- 
hibition of the subject he has undertaken to investi- 
gate^ he feels unwilling that the deficiences or imper- 
fections of the work should be attributed to any want 
of exertion on his part. It is therefore hoped that 
he may be permitted, without the appearance of egot- 
ism., to say a few words upon the nature of his labour 
in the composition of the present volume. 

Before the author had completed his studies in the 
profession for which he was originally intended, he 
had employed himself with an attempt to understand 
the manner by which America had been supplied with 
men and animals. At that time, though his views 
hardly extended beyond explaining the mere physi- 
cal difficulties that belong to the investigation, they 
were deemed sufficiently interesting by the late Dr. 
Rush of Philadelphia, and some other friends, to be 
laid before the public. That essay, which a few per- 
sons may have read, has been almost entirely forgot- 
ten. Very soon after its publication, the author re- 
ceived a subordinate appointment in the Custom 
House, where he has been employed ever since. 



VI 



PREFACE. 



The necessary attention required to comprehend the 
duties of his new employment, as well as the labori- 
ous execution of its details, for many years entirely 
diverted him from any philosophical pursuit; but 
about seven years since, he began to devote the par- 
tial leisure of the day, once more, to an investigation 
of the ancient history of America, which, among a 
variety of cares, interruptions and employments, has 
been gradually brought into the system now present- 
ed to the reader. 

His first object, as in the former essay, was to ex- 
plain the origin of the men and animals of America, 
so far as that question is involved with the apparent 
physical impediments that have so long kept the sub- 
ject in total obscurity. But as it was soon perceived 
that the history of America was but a part of the 
general history of man and nature, it became abso- 
lutely necessary, that every part of this vast subject 
should be examined and compared with whatever 
was interesting in the physical and moral history of 
this continent. The author, therefore, entirely chang- 
ed his original plan, and commenced the study of the 
general subject, with the hope of being able by suc- 
cessive researches, to place the history of aboriginal 
America in its true bearing with that of the eastern 
continent. It was naturally concluded, that with a 
correct exhibition of the subject, the origin of both 
men and animals would be almost conclusively ascer- 
tained. 

The difficulties with which the author has had to 
contend in procuring suitable books, can hardly be 
appreciated but by those who have attempted a simi- 
lar investigation in the United States. The public 



PREFACE. 



Vll 



library of Baltimore, although an excellent collection 
of books for general readers, was very deficient in 
those useful to his research; he was therefore obliged, 
as far as his own means allowed, to procure them from 
England and France, when an opportunity occurred 
to make the purchase; for as the earlier writers on 
America have been long out of print, it is but seldom 
they can be obtained. Indeed it has been impossible 
to procure the Spanish writers in their own language, 
and this will explain the reason why they are some- 
times quoted according to a French translation. 

A great number of other books on ancient history, 
geography, mythology, &c. which he desired to ex- 
amine, have been also unattainable to any means he 
could exert. In consequence, much quotation at se- 
cond hand has taken place, and to his regret often in 
a partial and defective manner, according to the pur- 
poses of the writers who quoted from original sources. 
He has been scrupulously exact in citing authorities 
in such instances, lest there should be other matters 
not furnished in the extract, which might render him 
liable to the imputation of garbling quotations to suit 
his own views. 

But in admitting the deficiency of his materials, in 
several respects important to a full view of the subject 
of his present investigation, the author hopes, never- 
theless, that he shall not be considered presumptuous 
in publishing the following work, and it is chiefly to 
justify this step, that these prefatory remarks have 
been made. Though he has not read all that has 
been written directly upon the Indians of America, 
or upon other subjects connected with the research, 
yet these different matters have been so far investi- 



viii 



PREFACE. 



gated 5 that the author believes himself possessed of 
all the important facts necessary to form a good gen- 
eral opinion upon the whole subject. He cannot pre- 
sume, that the relations of those writers unexamined 
by him out of a collection of others upon the very 
same subject, will be found to contain matters invali- 
dating the statements of those consulted, and w T hose 
writings agreeing together in a general view, leave 
no room to suspect a discrepancy with those which 
he has not seen. 

He ventures then to illustrate the position he has 
assumed, by that of a mathematician who commences 
to examine an unknown and rugged country, where 
many prominent objects strike the eye from a distance. 
Like him, the author has measured a base line, and 
ascertained the angular bearings of the more interest- 
ing points. But though the leading features have 
been thus ascertained, a series of smaller triangles 
must yet be established before the survey can be con- 
sidered complete. 

The author's literary obligations to individuals, 
though few in number, are nevertheless too great to 
be overlooked. To the Honourable Mr. Du Ponceau 
of Philadelphia, he owes thanks for friendly notice 
and an instructive correspondence on the Indian lan- 
guages. To Professor Raffinesque, also of Philadel- 
phia, he is indebted for an acquaintance with some 
valuable books and communications of great interest. 
The literary generosity of this gentleman must be ap- 
preciated by the fact, that he has at this very time, 
nearly ready for the press, an extensive work upon 
the aboriginal history of America. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Though it is now above three hundred years since philo- 
sophers began to speculate upon the condition and history of 
aboriginal America, we may still without any presumption^ 
state that the subject remains involved nearly in all the ob- 
scurity that originally pertained to the investigation. 

So different are the men and animals of America, and so 
insulated is their position when contrasted with all other 
parts of the globe, that it has hitherto seemed impossible, 
either to explain the anomalies that exist, or to ascertain any 
material facts that connect the history of the two continents 
together. That this statement does no injustice to the la- 
bours of preceding writers on the origin of the Indians of 
America, is very evident; for the editors of Encyclopedias 
and such other works, who have taken a view of the whole 
range of theory and dissertation as exhibited in the researches 
of original writers, universally acknowledge their inability 
to come to any positive conclusion. 

When we consider how much has been written upon this 
subject, it might almost be supposed, that the original history 
of America is involved in such circumstances of obscurity 
and perplexity, as to leave little room to anticipate a solution 
of those difficulties that have hitherto opposed insuperable 
obstacles to philosophical scrutiny. Yet, if we advert to the 
great ignorance that has prevailed concerning the history of 
aboriginal America, it ought to occasion no surprise that 
mere theoretic writers on the origin of the American Indians, 
have failed to solve a difficult problem which they cannot 
be said to have fairly comprehended themselves. 



INTRODUCTION. 



As we cannot perceive any advantage to the reader in the 
introduction of exploded or insufficient theories, we forbear 
to enumerate them; they do not impart any correct infor- 
mation concerning the aborigines of America, and they have 
entirely failed to shew either their origin, or the manner by 
which they reached this continent. 

But notwithstanding the failure of theoretic writers upon 
this subject, we have not been discouraged to attempt the 
investigation upon philosophical principles. It certainly 
must be within the influence of some solution, whether it be 
to prove a connexion with other nations or people of the 
eastern continent, or whether it be that America stands alone 
and unconnected with the history of all other parts of the 
earth. 

It is to discover the truth alone that we have undertaken 
this research: and the course to be pursued, seems naturally 
that we first ascertain, what was the condition of America 
prior to the discovery of Columbus. After having correct 
views upon this subject, we can then examine the difficulties, 
whether moral or physical, that are involved in the origin 
or in the location of man and the animals. By such methods 
of investigation we may obtain results, which are capable of 
being generalized into conclusions both consistent and satis- 
factory. 

According to such views the following pages have been 
written, and we shall now commence our research with the 
subject naturally requiring our first consideration; namely, 
the physical characters of the men of America. 



RESEARCHES, 



PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN* 

ON 

AMERICA. 



CHAPTER I. 

ON THE COMPLEXION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF THE ABORI- 
GINAL NATIONS OF AMERICA. 

We propose in this chapter to lay before the reader, 
some account of the physical characters of the Aborigines 
of America, such as they appeared to the first discoverers of 
the continent; not only in their really natural conformation, 
but also in those peculiarities of appearance, which, from 
perverted ideas of beauty, they either inflicted on their bo- 
dies, or forced them to assume, while the system was in a 
growing state, and susceptible of such vicious impressions. 

Whatever may be peculiar in the appearance of the Ame- 
rican Indians, we cannot refer it to any osteological differ- 
ence between them, and any other variety of the human 
family, neither as respects the formation of the cranium, 
nor physiognomical construction of the countenance; and 
it is a matter of surprise that physiological naturalists, not- 
withstanding the avowed uncertainty of their osteological 
classification, should continue to make use of so imperfect a 
system. The numerous anomalies noted by them in the 
form of the scull, alone is sufficient to set their classification 
aside; for they most distinctly admit, that all their varie- 
ties of national formation are found in each of the different 
races they enumerate, and to such an extent, that they can 
only say at last, in justification of their theoretic views, that 
these variations do not occur so often, as to destroy the ge- 
neral characteristic of the particular conformation. But 
3 



14 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



their numerous exceptions make the system so vague and 
undefined, that we are constrained to ahandon it, as a system 
of natural classification. 

It must be acknowledged, nevertheless, that there is a cer- 
tain physiognomic character of feature, that enables us, at 
first sight, to distinguish other nations from ourselves, and 
often from other foreigners, and few it is presumed who 
have not made this observation, without even thinking of 
scientific classification. But after some attention to this 
matter, we rather think that the method by which we recog- 
nize foreigners, is not so much from any difference in fea- 
tures, as from the general air and carriage of the body, the 
dress, and moral expression of the countenance. Thus it is, 
a well bred man can be discovered even in the most insigni- 
ficant action of common life. The habitual politeness of the 
French gentleman, shews itself remarkably among a society 
of Englishmen, where they are not polished by service in 
the army, or attendance at court; and we would recognize 
the sober dignified Spaniard from a Frenchman, by the ob- 
servation of a few moments. The Hollander, or German, 
may be grave and serious, but they want the manner and 
dignified courtesy which belong to the Castillian. A mo- 
derate acquaintance with different nations, will soon teach 
us their characteristic air and manner, when free and unre- 
strained in their intercourse. But I very much doubt, if 
individuals of these different nations were seated together, 
without speaking or moving, whether the most practised 
eye could distinguish in them, any thing peculiar or dif- 
ferent from ourselves. 

In the physiognomic engravings of different nations, given 
in physiological works, which seem to strike the eye with 
the appearance of great differences, it is really the head 
dress and clothing, that enables us to recognize the nations 
whom they are intended to represent. Thus, the turbaned 
head shews the Turk; the head adorned with feathers, an 
American, &c. But if the coiffure be changed or taken 
away from each, though there may be different moral ex- 
pressions of countenance, none would perceive any national 
peculiarity. This circumstance continually deceives the 
traveller among foreign nations, who happens to be unaware 
of the effect of costume. 

The peculiar expression of countenance said to belong to 
the American race, as far as we have been able to ascertain 
it, is referrible to those moral causes, which operate every 
where in producing physiognomic expression. Where the 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



15 



mind is cultivated, or where intellect and the passions have 
scope, where courtesy, humanity, or enthusiasm prevails, 
the varied emotions of the soul occasion a mobility of fea- 
ture, which continually reflects more or less of what is pas- 
sing in the inmost recesses of the heart; and this circum- 
stance gives the intellectual physiognomy so apparent in ci- 
vilized nations. But where the mind is hardly ever exer- 
cised, except in the means of circumventing inferior ani- 
mals, and where nothing intellectual is perhaps ever ex- 
cited, the features assume a fixed, grave, and even stern ex- 
pression, according to the peculiar temper and feeling of the 
individual, who perhaps expresses no passions of the mind, 
except it may be grave complacency when animal wants are 
satisfied, or rage, when offended. Such we consider the ge- 
neral character of the Indian countenance, not differing 
from that of any other people who may be brought up under 
similar circumstances. The African, equally ignorant and 
barbarous, is generally more cheerful, because he is more of 
an agriculturist. His wants are more easily supplied, and 
the satisfaction he feels he has more opportunity of display- 
ing. But cceleris paribus, I think it will be found as 
stated above, that barbarity of manners induces the same 
expression of countenance. 

Systematic writers have also considered the native tribes 
of America, as a fifth class of the human species, under the 
distinct term of the "Copper Coloured Race." To this 
term we have much to object, not only as respects the Ame- 
ricans, but other nations, from whom it seems to us, they 
have been improperly separated by this theoretic distinc- 
tion. In order to have a correct understanding of this sub- 
ject, we should be told what is the copper colour, for that 
metal has several very different hues. Any person who in- 
spects a large quantity of copper coin before it has been 
much handled, may perceive eight or ten shades of colour, 
not only rising to an ashen yellow, but also deepening to a 
darkish blue. That some of these varied tints, may to a 
certain degree resemble the general complexion of the Ame- 
rican Indians, I am not disposed to deny altogether; but if 
the colour of copper, as usually seen in sheets or other ma- 
nufactures, is assumed as the tint, it is at variance with all 
the observations we have been able to make. The word ap- 
plied to the human complexion is ill chosen, for the mind 
always associates with it the idea of metallic lustre, which 
the skin is incapable of assuming. Even cinnamon colour 
is objectionable, unless a more than commonly pale soeci 



16 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



men of that article is furnished. This I assert from some 
personal observation among the Chippeways, Pottawotto- 
mes, &c; and that other American Indians are not character- 
istically of this copper colour, may be reasonably inferred, 
not only from the descriptions given by more recent travel- 
lers, but also from finding the same term, copper colour, ap- 
plied to natives of the South sea, and certain of the Asiatic 
and African tribes. 

The term, I believe, was first employed, to describe the 
complexion of the American Indians; and it is presumable 
was given by superficial observers, who were deceived by 
the faded marks of red paint, so universally used among 
them, and which is hardly ever so much worn off, as not to 
leave a reddish tinge on their brown faces. But the hands, 
legs, &c. do not exhibit this complexion. However the 
term has now become so current, that all navigators and tra- 
vellers use it specifically, and by this means we shall be en- 
abled to establish our point, perhaps not directly, that the 
Americans are not copper coloured, but we shall be able to 
shew that so many other nations are described of the same 
complexion, that it must cease to be considered the distinc- 
tion of the American race. By this circumstance we shall 
be able to unite the American Indians, again to those, from 
whom they have been inconsiderately separated by this fan- 
ciful distinction. To this end we adduce the following au- 
thorities, which will shew that the term "copper coloured" 
has been applied very widely to other nations than the 
Americans. 

Hainan Islanders on the coast of China, i( copper colour" 
(Grosier in Winterbotham's Hist, of China, i. 127.) 

Inhabitants of Disappointment Islands, "deep copper co- 
lour." (Hawksworth's Voy. i. 114.) 

Malays of Timor, "deep copper colour." (Cartaret in 
Hawksworth, i. 445. Peron and Le Suer, i. 144.) 

Nicobar Islanders, "copper colour." (Asiat. Research, 
iii. 151.) 

Nassau or Poggy Islanders, '"'of a light brown, or copper 
colour, like the Malays." (Asiat. Research, vi. 83.) 

Magindinao Mahometans, "deep copper colour." (Mears' 
Voyage, i. 65.) 

Guam natives, "copper coloured like other Indians." 
(Dampier, i. 297.) 

Bashee Islanders, "dark copper colour." (Dampier, i. 
427.) 

Free "Wills Islands, natives, "Indian copper colour." 
(Cartaret in Hawksworth, i. 445.) 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



17 



Lagoon Islands, natives, "copper colour." (Cartaret in 
Hawksworth, ii. 80.) 

Friendly Islands, natives, "copper colour." (Cook's 
Voyage to South Pole, i. 217.) 

Toubouai, "stout copper coloured people." (Cook's 
Voyage to North Pole, ii. 6. 

Gambier's Islands, natives, "light copper colour." 
(Mission. Voyage, 115, 117.) 

Duff's Group, "copper colour." Mission. Voyage, 291.) 

Tucker's Island, one of the Caroline Islands, "dark 
copper." (Mission. Voyage, 291.) 

Lord Howe's Group, "dark copper." (Hunter's Voyage, 
222.) 

Duke of York's Islands, "light copper." (Hunter's 
Voyage, 233.) 

Tench's Group, "light copper colour." (Lieut. King in 
Hunter, 42.) 

New Hollanders, some black, others "copper or Malay 
colour." (Collin's New South Wales, 359.) 

Washington Islands, "copper colour, and some fairer." 
Com. Porter's Journal, ii. 14, 62. 

Laplanders, "copper coloured." (Clark's Travels in 
Scandinavia, ix. 486, 506, 508, 540.) 

Recent discoveries have made us acquainted with nations 
distinguished by the term copper coloured, extending into 
central Africa as far at least as Lake Tchad. These people 
of various tribes are distinguished by Denham and Clapper- 
ton, as being copper coloured, clear copper colour, deep cop- 
per, dingy copper, &c. See Denham's Journal, 30, 56, 88, 
131, 134, 136, 162, and Clapperton 58, &c. 

Malte Brun, Geog. book 69, designates the Sognies bor- 
dering on the Zaire, as "copper coloured." 

Thus has this vague term been extended by navigators 
and travellers over a great part of the earth; and if it be 
considered at all accurate in one case, it must be so in others; 
and its universality will effectually prevent our considering 
the American Indians, as being thus distinguished from other 
brown men. The preceding quotations from Dampier, 
Byron, Mears, and Commodore Porter, who were accus- 
tomed to the sight of American Indians, shew the evident 
resemblance in complexion, between them and the natives of 
the Indian and Pacific oceans, be the colour what it may; 
and their general resemblance to brown men, of other parts 
of the world, may be directly inferred, from Volney's and 
Humboldt's observations on this particular subject. The for- 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



mer remarks, [View of the U. States, 364,) "At Vin- 
cennes, (on the Wabash) and at Detroit, I met with Indians 
that reminded me of the Bedouins and Egyptian Fellahs; 
in the hue of their skin, quality of hair, and in many other 
circumstances they were alike." Humboldt says, (Polit. 
Essay, i. 115,) 4 'the analogy between the Mongol and 
American races, is particularly evident in the colour of the 
skin and hair, in the defective beard, high cheek bones, and 
in the direction of the eyes. We cannot refuse to admit, 
that the human species does not contain races resembling 
one another more than the Malays, Mongols, Mantcheaux, 
and Americans."* 

The few Malays, or Maccassars, that I have seen, bear so 
general a resemblance to-our northern Indians, that it is not 
easy to say in what respects they differ. At most, it cannot 
be more than in a pallor of complexion, which naturally 
ensues from a residence in tropical climates, and which can 
be easily appreciated by any one, who has an opportunity of 
contrasting the complexion of Europeans or Anglo Ameri- 
cans when thus exposed, with those of the same race who in- 
habit dry and healthy situations of the temperate zone. 
Mr. Marsden appears to have suggested the reason of any 
difference of complexion between the Malays and the Ame- 
rican Indians, when he observes, that the Rejangs who con^ 
stitute a considerable portion of the natives of Sumatra, 
"have a complexion properly yellow, wanting that red 
tinge, that constitutes a tawny or copper colour. 7 ' (Hist. 
Sumatra, 40.) I infer from this, that were the Rejangs to 
live in a more cool and temperate region, they would ac- 
quire this reddish tinge, or, in fact, healthy complexion of 
which it is indicative, and which would then constitute them 
a copper coloured people in the ordinary use of this word. 

We consider, therefore, that the colour of the American 
Indians in general is a brown; differing in intensity with va- 
rious tribes, according to various localities; but that it is al- 
most impossible to say what that brown colour principally 
resembles. The cinnamon, is in our apprehension, the 
nearest approach to it; though still too inaccurate for gene- 

* The Baron, it is true, says, "these features of *esemblance do not con- 
stitute an identity of race." We are not concerned with any theory, that 
one may see proper to establish upon these facts; but it is strikingly appa- 
rent that the very slight if not fanciful shades of difference, between the 
American and Mongol races, which the Baron goes on to enumerate, do not 
separate the two in any equal degree, with what the analogies which he has 
enumerated tend to unite them; and which are those of skin, hair, eyes, and 
osteological character of face. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



19 



ral comparison. Under these circumstances, it seems most 
correct, simply to use the general term, brown men; who 
will thus constitute an intermediate class, between the white 
and negro races. These three complexions being distinctly 
admitted, all other modifications of complexion can be ac- 
counted for by their intermixtures, where the variation of 
colour is too great to be referred to climate, local situation, 
and state of civilization; which it may be presumed do ex- 
ercise a partial influence on the skin. 

There is undoubtedly a great similarity in the appearance 
of the Indians of America to each other, except in a few re- 
markable instances to be noticed in their proper place: yet 
there are also various shades of difference among them, 
shewing the impossibility of reducing them all under one 
general class of complexion. Though their colour is com- 
monly assumed to be that of copper, we find travellers con- 
stantly remarking the variations of hue among different 
tribes, as for instance: 

The Indians near the sources of Peace river, are of a 
swarthy yellow complexion. {Mackenzie's Voyage, 195.) 

The Cherokees are of a lighter colour than adjacent In- 
dians. {Barton's New Views, p. xlv.) 

The Mandans and Gros-ventres have a light complexion, 
and hair inclining to chestnut. { Topog. Description of 
Ohio, 152.) 

"The complexion of the Quapaws, like that of the Choc- 
taws and Creeks, is dark, and destitute of any thing like the 
cupreous tinge." {Nutall's Travels, 83.) 

The Mexican complexion, according to Clavigero, is olive, 
{History of Mexico, i. 104.) 

Herrera v. 11, says, "the women of the Chiachiapoyos 
of Peru, were so much whiter and more graceful than other 
Indians, that they were sought after by the Incas." 

Baron Humboldt remarks, "if the uniform tint of the 
skin be more coppery and redder toward the north, it is, on 
the contrary, among the Chaymas, of a deep brown, in- 
clining to tawny. The denomination of copper coloured 
men, {rouges cuivres) could never have originated in 
equinoctial America to designate the natives." {Personal 
Narrative, iii. 223.) 

• Gumilla, {Description of the Orinoco, i. 107,) says, "the 
colour of the Indians on the borders of the Orinoco, is so 
diversified, that he could say nothing of it under one gene- 
ral head." 

The Guaycurus of Brazil, "are of a darker tint than cop- 
per.' 7 {Southey-s Hist, of Brazil, iii. 671.) 



20 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



"The Charruas are more black than white, without any 
mixture of red.' 3 (Jizara Voyages, ii. 8.) 

"The Guayanas, (a different people from the Guaranis) of 
Brazil and Paraguay, differ from all the Indians of those na- 
tions, by the lightness of their colour, and some of them 
have blue eyes." (Azara Voyages, ii. 76.) 

Hitherto, we have confined our discourse to that portion of 
the American Indians, who may be strictly termed brown 
men; and we presume that in a general manner, we have 
established the fact, that there is a great variety of shades of 
complexion existing among them, the reason of which we 
shall not attempt to explain, even were the solution less dif- 
ficult than we apprehend to be the case. We shall now pro- 
ceed to describe other nations of America, of a very dif- 
ferent complexion, which being a matter not generally 
known, we feel a necessity of establishing by many proofs; 
and therefore may seem to overcharge our page with more 
extracts and quotations, than is agreeable to those who pre- 
fer the smoothness of an uninterrupted discourse. But the 
points we have to establish, are derived from the narratives 
of various travellers, who do not commonly express the 
same ideas with equal precision; and sometimes indeed dif- 
fer with each other. To ascertain the fact, therefore, it 
is necessary, that their various relations should be laid before 
us, that we may exercise a sound discrimination in forming 
our opinion. 

It has been long known that the Esquimaux, were in 
comparison with other Americans, of a white complexion; 
and this circumstance so far misled Dr. Robertson, that he 
conjectured they were the descendants of the Norwegians, 
who discovered Greenland in the year A. D. 982, and made 
some insignificant settlements there. It would be unneces- 
sary to disprove this opinion, for the Norwegians them- 
selves describe the Esquimaux already there before them, un- 
der the name of Skroelingues* or dwarfish people; but we 
will attempt to shew what the complexion of the Esquimaux 
is, from the accounts of different travellers. 

The Greenlanders are described by Egede, of a dark 
tawny complexion, though some are pretty fair. 

Ellis {page 139,) says, their colour inclines to the Euro- 
pean white, rather than to the copper colour of the Ameri- 
cans. 

Dobbs (Account of Hudson' \s Bay, 50,) states, they have 
a white complexion, not copper coloured. 

^Pennant's Arct, Zool- Introduction i. 64. See also Edinburgh Review, 
for June, IS 18, 37. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



21 



Kalm (7 ravels, ii. 263,) relates, the Esquimaux are al- 
most as white as Europeans. 

Capt. Lyon, (Journal, 224,) observes, the Esquimaux 
complexion previously washed, "is not darker than that of 
a Portuguese; and such parts of the body as are constantly 
covered, do not fall short in fairness, to the generality of 
the natives of the Mediterranean. " 

Capt. Parry (3d Voyage, 493,) says, "the complexion of 
young persons among them is clear and transparent, scarcely 
a shade darker than a deep brunette." 

From the above accounts, the character of the Esquimaux 
as a white nation seems to be clearly established; and we 
proceed to shew that certain other people of America, are 
even more distinctly entitled to that appellation. These are 
chiefly the natives of Prince William and Nootka sounds, 
who have been visited by several navigators, whose de- 
scriptions we shall now transcribe. Capt. Dixon, ( Voyage, 
171,) who was at Port Mulgrave has given the most explicit 
statement of this fact. He observes, "the natives are par- 
ticularly fond of painting their faces with a variety of co- 
lours, so that it is no easy matter to discover their real com- 
plexion; however, we prevailed on a woman, by persuasion 
and a trifling present to wash her face and hands, and the al- 
teration it made in her appearance absolutely surprised us; 
her countenance had all the cheerful glow of an English 
milk maid, and the healthy red which flushed her cheek, 
was even beautifully contrasted by the whiteness of her 
neck; her forehead was so remarkably clear, that the trans- 
lucent veins were seen meandering even in their minutest 
branches; in short, she was what would be reckoned hand- 
some in England." The English translator of La Pey- 
rouse's Voyage, seems to think this account of Dixon's, not 
confirmed by the observations of that navigator, but there 
does not appear to me any reason for such an opinion. This 
last voyager speaks of these Indians as they appeared to 
him, covered with dirt, paint, and fish oil; and Capt. Dixon 
describes the natural complexion when cleansed and washed. 
The French editor, however, confirms the account of the lat- 
ter by the relation of Don Maurelle, who says, "several of 
the women among them, if better dressed, might dispute 
charms with the most beautiful Spanish women." 

La Peyrouse himself, (Voyage, iii. 144,) though he says 
the colour of the natives at Port des Francais is very 
brown, owing to* continual exposure to the air, yet adds, 
"but their children at the time of birth arc as white as ours." 
4 



22 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



Now, as the opinion that Indians and negroes are born white, 
and change colour afterwards has been deservedly exploded, 
we may rest satisfied that those who are born white, will 
continue of that complexion. 

The relation of Marchand, [Voyage, i. 145,) confirms 
whatever maybe wanting in that of La Peyrouse; for it is 
there said, "several of these Indians scarcely differ from Eu- 
ropeans of the labouring class when their skin is only a little 
tanned. Of their hair, some is flaxen, some auburn, or black, 
long and curling." La Peyrouse, (iii. 204,) says "chestnut 
coloured hair is by no means unfrequent among them." 

Capt. Cook observes, "we could never positively deter- 
mine their colour; (at Nootka) they being incrusted with 
paint and dirt, though in particular cases, when these were 
well rubbed off, the whiteness of the skin appeared almost 
to equal that of Europeans, though rather of that pale effete 
cast, which distinguishes those of our southern nations. 
Their children, whose skins had never been stained with 
paint, equalled ours in whiteness." (Cook's Voyage, New 
Hemisphere, ii. 303.) 

Sebastian Vizcaino says, at Sta. Catalina on the N. W. 
coast, that "the boys and girls were of a complexion white 
and red." (Burney's South Sea Discoveries, ii. 248.) 

Finally; the description given by Mears of the people of 
Nootka sound, [Voyage, ii. 39,) entirely accords with the 
preceding authorities. "At Nootka, the skin of the na- 
tives is white, and we have seen some of the women, when 
in a state of cleanliness, which is by no means a common 
sight, and obtained with difficulty, who not only possessed 
the fair complexion of Europe, but also features, that would 
have attracted notice for their delicacy and beauty in those 
parts of the world, where the qualities of the human form 
are best understood." 

The other localities of white nations, are in South America; 
and are thusnoticed by Baron Humboldt, and the AbbeMolina. 

"In the forests of Guiana, especially near the sources of the 
Orinoco, are several tribes of a whitish complexion, the 
Guiacas, Guajaribs, and Arigues, of whom several robust 
individuals exhibiting no symptoms of asthenical malady, 
which characterises Albinos, have the appearance of true 
Mestizoes.* Yet these tribes have never mingled with Eu- 

* A Mestizo, according to this writer, is the son of a white and a native of 
copper colour: His colour is almost a pure white, and his skin of a peculiar 
transparency. If a Mestizo marry a white woman , the second generation dif- 
fers hardly in any thing from the European race. Humboldt's Polit. Essay, i, 

m. 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



23 



ropeans, and are surrounded with other tribes of a dark 
brown hue." (Humboldt, Polit. Essay, i. 108.) 

There is a tribe of Indians in the province of Baroa inChili, 
whose complexions are of a clear white and red, without 
any intermixture of the copper colour. (Hist. Chili, ii. 4.) 

Herrera, iv. 90, mentions, that in the Captaincy of Isleos 
in Brazil, is a certain race of very white Indians, of a gi- 
gantic stature, who spoke a language not understood, and 
who came there not long before A. D. 1528. They are de- 
scribed as very cruel and cannibals, and I presume, are the 
same or a kindred race with the Aymores, who invaded Ba- 
hia in 1603. These last are described as being in many in- 
stances, both of men and women, of as fair complexion as 
the Germans. (Southey's Hist. Brazil, i. 389.) 

Skinner, (Present State of Peru, 269,) by accounts re- 
ceived from the Spanish missionaries, says, that the natural 
complexion of the Conivos, one of the Manoa tribes on the 
Maranon, might vie with that of the Europeans, were it 
not for exposure, stings of insects, &c. 

Dobrizhoffer, (Hist. Jibipones, ii. 10,) says, that some 
of the Indians of Terra del Fuego are more than mode- 
rately white. 

Albinoes, have at all times been observed among the dif- 
ferent races of men. In America, however, they seem to 
have been assembled together in certain districts, in greater 
numbers than appears to have been noticed in any other 
part of the earth. The account given of them by Wafer, 
(Descrip. Isthmus of America, 107,) is a conspicuous 
instance, and so well known, that it seems unnecessary to 
repeat his relation. Indeed, we should scarcely have no- 
ticed the Albino variety, had we not thought it of some lit- 
tle importance to preserve the memory of a Cherokee tra- 
dition, which seems to declare, that anciently there was some 
remarkable instances of this variety of men in Georgia or 
Louisiana, sufficiently numerous to be remembered in In- 
dian tradition. "The Cherokees say, that when they first 
arrived in the country they now inhabit, they found it pos- 
sessed by certain moon-eyed people, who could not see in 
the day." (Barton's New Views, xliv.) This is appa- 
rently though obscurely substantiated by Alvaro Nunez, in 
his relation of the expedition of Narvaez. (Purchas Pilg. 
iv. 1520.) "Some of the Indians brought many peo- 
ple before us, the greater part whereof were squint-eyed, 
and others of the same people are blind, whereat we greatly 



24 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



marvelled; they are well set and of good behaviour, and 
whiter than all the rest that we had seen until then." 

Though America possesses some dark brown men, ap- 
proaching to black, yet it has been almost universally be- 
lieved that there were no aboriginal blacks or negroes found 
on this continent. But from considering the peculiar cir- 
cumstances under which a black race was found in North 
America, I hold it more than probable that the common 
opinion is erroneous. Torquemada says, the Californians 
shewed no manner of surprize at the sight of some negroes 
that accompanied Viscanio on a voyage to this coast, A, D. 
1602. As I have never seen Torquemada's Monarquia In- 
diana, I can only quote from Venegas, (California, ii. 
239,) who says from Torquemada, that when a negro was 
ordered to distribute some biscuit to the Californians at the 
bay of St. Barnabas, "the natives seemed greatly pleased at 
the sight of the negro, and signified to him, that they lived 
in friendship and correspondence with a people of his co- 
lour, and that not far from thence was a negro village." 

Torquemada undertakes to explain this remarkable cir- 
cumstance, by supposing that negroes had been left there by 
some ship from the Philippine Islands. But as he does not 
quote the time when such an event had occured, we pre- 
sume it was a mere conjecture of his own, to explain an 
anomaly of which he had been previously ignorant; and at 
first we were disposed to think the supposition plausible: 
but as it was found, on extending our researches, that the 
negro character of the Indians on this coast, has been dis- 
tinctly remarked by various navigators, even of the present 
day, we deem it impossible that any few individuals, who 
were probably without women with them when left on this 
coast, could have been able to communicate their peculiar 
complexion and features to entire nations, even after a pe- 
riod of above two hundred years.* The subject however is 

* One of the very first voyages to California was made by Cortez in 1535, 
who was accompanied by four hundred Spaniards, and three hundred negro 
slaves, he coasted both sides of the gulf of California, and returned safely 
to Acapulco. (Humboldt's Pol. Essay, ii. 220.) In this expedition, is the ear- 
liest account we have of negroes having been sent to that part of America, 
but there is no reason to think any of them were left on shore, as they were 
valuable property. 

About seventy years after this voyage of Cortez, the voyage of Viscano 
described by Torquemada took place; apparently much too short a time for 
negro villages to have been built, with whose inhabitants the natives had 
formed leagues of friendship; even if it were proved, which it has not been, 
that such persons had been wrecked or left ashore about these periods of 
time. 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



25 



still in obscurity, and belongs to that terra incognita of 
America, laying between the rivers Columbia and Gila. The 
authorities I have been able to examine respecting the pre- 
sent negro appearance of the Indians in that region, are as 
follow: 

The colour of the Indians of the Californian missions, 
seen by La Peyrouse, {Voyage, ii. 197, 212,) "very 
nearly approaches that of the negroes whose hair is not 
woolly; and in another place, the "colour of these Indians 
which is that of negroes." 

Langsdorf, who visited St. Francisco on the coast of Cali- 
fornia, confirms the observations of La Peyrouse; for he 
says, (Voyage, 440,) the Indians there, "are of a very dark 
complexion, approaching to black; they have large project- 
ing lips, and broad flat negro like noses; indeed many of 
their features, as well as their physiognomy, and almost 
their colour, bear a strong resemblance to the negroes: their 
hair, however, is long and strait." 

From the plates in Choris Voyages, of which I had but 
a slight examination, they appear to resemble very nearly 
the blacks of Hindostan, of whom a few Mahratas only, 
have fallen under my personal observation. But it is well 
known that many of the Hindu race, are only distinguished 
by straightness of hair from the Africans, for they are not 
less black. This circumstance has been noticed by Strabo, 
as the distinction between the two races. As we cannot ad- 
mit for a moment, that these American blacks were ever 
driven by stress of weather across the Pacific ocean to Cali- 
fornia; unless it be proved they are the descendants of ne- 
groes left by the Spaniards, it will follow of necessity, 
that they have been settled in America from the earliest ages. 

In another part of America, if reliance can be placed 
upon the correctness of the relation, a race of blacks were 
seen at so early a period of our history, that it seems im^ 
possible to avoid the conclusion that they were aboriginal. 
Peter Martyr, (3d Decade, page 97,) in describing the 
journey of Balboa across the Isthmus of Darien, A. D. 
1511, gives the following history: "There is a region not 
above two days' journey from Quarequa, in which they 
found only blackamoors; and those exceeding fierce and 
cruel." The circumstance of finding them there, he at- 
tempted to explain, by the conjecture that they were Ethi- 
opians, who had crossed the Atlantic to rob the country, and 
that after having been shipwrecked, they had been com- 
pelled by the natives to take refuge in the mountains. But 



26 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



all this is pure guess work, which we shall not attempt to 
disprove, for it is not more plausible than the supposition 
that they were aboriginal. It is only interesting to us to 
inquire, whether the fact really be as represented by the 
historian of Balboa, or whether he may not have been de- 
ceived by some external filth or paint, whereby these peo- 
ple were remarkable from other Indians. On this subject I 
have nothing to produce, as no other account of this parti- 
cular part of America, that I know of, mentions the circum- 
stance, which perhaps has arisen from the belief, that these 
blacks were descendants of the runaway negroes, which the' 
infamous slave trade, had brought to tropical America at a 
very early period. 

If I am not much mistaken, however, we shall be able to 
shew, that the relation of Peter Martyr, concerning the 
blackamoors, as he calls them, seen by Balboa, was substan- 
tially correct: for we learn from Stevenson, (Travels in 
South America, ii. 387,) the following singular facts, 
which we shall quote at length. "The natives of Esmeral- 
das, Rio Verde, and Atacames," (Republic of Columbia,) 
"are all Zambos, apparently a mixture of negroes and In- 
dians; indeed the oral tradition of their origin is, that a ship 
having negroes on board arrived on the coast; and that 
having landed, they murdered a great number of the male 
Indians, kept their widows and daughters and laid the foun- 
dation of the present race. If this were the case, and it is 
not very improbable, the whole of the surrounding country 
being peopled with Indians, it produces a striking instance 
of the facility with which an apparently different tribe of 
human beings is produced; for the present Esmeraldenos 
are very different in their features, hair, colour, and 
shape, to the Chino, or offspsring of a negro or Indian; 
these are commonly short and lusty, of a very deep copper 
colour, thick hair, neither lank nor curled, small eyes, 
sharpish nose, and well shaped mouth; whereas the Esme- 
raldenos are tall and rather slender, of a lightish black co- 
lour, different from that called copper colour; have soft 
curly hair, large eyes, nose rather flat, and thick lips, pos- 
sessing more of the Negro than of the Indian, &c. The 
language of the Esmeraldenos is also entirely different from 
the Quichua, which is the general language of the Indians; 
it is rather nasal, and appears very scanty of words, &c." 

It is very singular, that so intelligent a writer as Steven- 
son, could listen to the story, that the black natives of Ata- 
cames, &c. could have descended from a ship load of ne- 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



21 



groes, who had in some immemorial time arrived on this 
coast: for every word of comment or explanation that he 
has made, is in direct opposition to such an hypothesis; and 
if the offspring of a Negro and Indian, be entirely different 
from the natives of the Atacames, Esmeraldos, &c. by what 
imaginable rule can we refer the origin of these people to 
such progenitors! The whole legend is ridiculous, and has 
been no doubt a Spanish or Indian suggestion to explain the 
singularity of the fact, concerning which they had no other 
method of explication. 

I know not whether the population to the northward, 
partake of this black complexion of the Atacames, &c. but 
these last are now about four hundred miles from Quarequa, 
where Balboa is reported to have seen a similar complexion. 
This distance however is immaterial, the direction or course 
being the very one, to which an emigration would naturally 
be made, if such took place to the southward. Or their 
more northern brethren may have been exterminated in war 
with other tribes, or may yet be observed in those regions, 
if some intelligent traveller could visit the country. 

Juarros, [Hist. Guatimala, 346,) in describing the com- 
plexion of the people of that province, which almost termi- 
nates in the country visited by Balboa, says expressly, that 
some of the Indians there are white, others black, and others 
red or copper colour, and seemingly considers them original 
nations by this enumeration; for he makes no observation on 
these peculiarities of complexion. I presume, that in this 
instance he made no mistake from their external appearance, 
for he was aware, {page 194,) that the Indians did paint 
themselves black, to protect themselves from the stings of 
musquitoes.* 

There is another circumstance connected with the history 
of blacks in this part of the world, which it may be proper 
to introduce in this place, be it worth what it may; "the 
people of Hispaniola informed Columbus, (Herrera, i. 374,) 
that there was to the S. and S. E. a black people, who 
pointed the heads of their javelins with metal, &c." It is 
not easy to imagine the natives of St. Domingo had any ac- 
quaintance with the people of the Isthmus, or even of those 
of Guatimala, though it is not impossible. If this could be 
deemed probable, there will be little difficulty in consider- 
ing the fact well established, that there were blacks in these 

* Juarros says, that July 2d, 1594, Philip the Second directed, that a minute 
detail of all circumstances regarding the native inhabitants, should be 
transmitted to him, &c. This document probably is yet in the archives of 
Simancas, and may settle this interesting fact, if access can be gained there, 



28 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



parts of the continent, who had extended themselves both 
north and south of the Isthmus of Darien. 

The *\merican Indians, compared with Europeans, have 
but little beard, and it is almost universally their practice to 
eradicate it, as well as all other hair from their bodies. Some 
even plucked out their eyebrows and eyelashes, as was pret- 
ty commonly the case with the natives of Brazil and Para- 
guay. {Gumilla, Hist. Orenoque, i. 105, 201. Azara, 
ii. 124, 164.) This paucity of beard is not peculiar to the 
Americans, the Tartar and Malay tribes are equally defi- 
cient, as well as the African race. This is now so well un- 
derstood that it is unnecessary to notice it further. 

But if travellers and naturalists, have formerly been wil- 
ling to consider the American Indians as being generally 
beardless, they have been highly liberal to the Esquimaux 
in this particular. Charlevoix {Travels, 106,) says, "they 
have a beard so thick up to their eyes that it is difficult to 
distinguish any features of their face." Ellis, more mode- 
rate, describes them, {page 139,) as having beards sometimes 
long and bushy. Dobbs {tflcct. Hudson* 's Bay, 50,) 
agrees with Charlevoix in saying "they have beards up to 
their eyes." 

Egede, however, does not describe the Greenlanders, who 
are undoubtedly of the Esquimaux stock, as being distin- 
guished by this peculiarity, and Capts. Ross and Parry do 
not mention the Esquimaux seen by them, as having other 
than thin beards, though they permit it to grow. We must 
therefore consider the statements of Charlevoix and Dobbs 
to be exaggerations, derived from hasty and inconsiderate 
observation, in which they were misled by the contrast af- 
forded by the nations around. The real fact appears to be, 
that the one people permitted the beard to grow, while 
others in general carefully plucked it out; but that naturally 
there is little if any difference between them in the quantity. 
In like manner we must account, most probably, for other in- 
stances of bearded people in America, such as the Yabipias 
Indians near the river Gila, and the nation called Guamos 
on the Orinoco, mentioned by Gumilla, i. 201. That these 
nations are only called bearded from contrast, may be further 
inferred from the instances occasionally remarked throughout 
America, of individuals, among beardless tribes, being de- 
scribed with large beards, when whim or caprice of some 
kind or other, had induced them to cherish its growth. 

But it is not entirely true, that the American Indians pluck 
out their beard j for in addition to the above instances, we 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



29 



must mention that the Miges, a nation of Mexico wear long 
beards, which Herrera, (Hist. Jimer. iv. 125,) observes was 
a rare custom. 

La Peyrouse says, (Voy. ii. 198,) that some of the In- 
dians of California, had beards large enough* to have been 
of importance in Turkey, or the vicinity of Moscow. 

Throughout both N. and S. America, the natives with few 
exceptions, pricked black or blue figures into their skins; a 
custom that has prevailed among almost every rude nation in 
the world, and in such numerous instances, that it is not 
worth while to quote authorities. 

Very generally in N. America, and also in Peru, and Bra- 
zil, the natives cut the outer edge of the ear loose, to which 
they attached such a variety and weight of ornaments, as 
sometimes, literally to stretch this partially detached portion 
down to the shoulder. They also perforated the cartilage of 
the nose, in which they wore rings, reeds, stones, feathers, 
&c. 

Many nations of the eastern continent disfigured them- 
selves in like manner. The natives of the Fidgi islands, 
(Mariner, 212,) and those of Bali, adjoining Java, (Craw- 
fur d's Ind. Jirchip. i. 218,) stretched their ears in like man- 
ner to an enormous degree. 

Many tribes flattened the forehead by artificial compres- 
sion; they laid the young infant on its back, with the head 
in a hole made to receive it, and then applied a small bag of 
sand or other weight, on the frontal bone, until it more or 
less assumed the desired flatness. Sometimes they accom- 
plished the purpose by binding two flat boards tight on the 
head. This custom prevails among the nations on the west- 
ern slope of the Rocky mountains, and was once remarka- 
ble among the Choctaws, and also the Caraibs of the West 
India islands. Some Peruvian and Brazilian tribes, also 
adopted this preposterous fashion. 

The Arrowacks, who inhabited the larger West India 
islands at the time of the discovery by Columbus, flattened 
the head downward in the direction of the spine. (Ed- 
ward's TV. Indies, i. 74.) They appear to have been aione 
in this practice, according to our inquiries. 

The natives of Asia and of the Indian islands, in certain 
instances, compressed the forehead like the Caraibs. This 
was done by the people of Arrakan in the Burman empire, 

* It is most probable, that the figures of bearded men observed in various 
Mexican antiquities, are connected with the history of this people, and the 
Yabipais, and Californians. 
5 



30 



COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE 



(Mod. Univ. Hist. vi. 127,) and several Islanders of the 
Indian Archipelago. (Crawfurd's Ind. Jlrchip. i. 218. 

The Caraibs bound strong ligatures round the legs of their 
children, that they might enlarge the calf, and raise the flesh 
in ridges from the ancles to the top of the thighs. This 
practice was observed by Columbus on his first voyage, 
(Peter Martyr, 303.) It is also mentioned by Gumilla, 
[Hist, del 1 Orinoque, i. 196,) as practiced by that people 
in his time. 

Many of the Brazilian tribes cut holes in their cheeks 
and noses, in which they inserted coloured stones, pieces of 
wood, feathers, &c. (Ulloa, i. 395 — Azara passim.) 

But the most extraordinary perversion of nature, was 
practised among those nations who attempted to exhibit 
either two mouths, or else inserted in the transverse slit that 
made this second mouth, a piece of wood carved like the 
bowl of a soup spoon, which projected out with the cavity 
upwards, as if to catch what might drop down whilst eating. 
This disgusting ornament was much used especially by wo- 
men, on the N. W. coast. See Cook, Vancouver, Peyrouse, 
Dixon, &c. 

The same custom prevailed in great measure throughout 
the Brazilian nations, (Azara passim.) It was observed 
on the sea coast by Cabral, who describes the natives as 
having the lower lip cut like a second mouth, and wearing a 
stone in it, or piece of wood; which in some instances hung 
down like a tongue. (Jlzara, ii. 150. Southey's Brazil, 
i. 224.) 

Some Indians near Buenos Ayres, according to Gumilla, 
(Hist, del' Orinoque, i. 201,) cut the mouth from ear to 
ear! 

Dampier, (Voyage, i. 32,) describes the natives of the 
Pearl islands, (Margueritte,) wearing a piece of tortoise 
shell passed through the lower lip by a round hole, and 
which hung over the chin like a beard. Cortez describes 
the grandees of Zempoallan with their under lips hanging on 
their chins, from the weight of ornaments thereto appended. 
(Gomara in Purchas, iii. 119.) The Miztecas used the 
same disfigurement. (Herrera, iv. 260.) And the Mexi- 
cans adorned some of their divinities after this fashion. 
(Herrera, iii. 205.) Cabeza de Vaca, observed the Floridian 
Indians to have holes in the under lip, through which they 
thrust pieces of reed. (Herrera, iv. 33.) 

I have met with no instances of any other than Ameri- 
cans thus slitting or boring the lower lip, except the one 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



31 



mentioned by Major Denham in the relation of his journey 
to Central Africa. He observes, (page 42,) that "the Mus- 
gow women wear a silver stud in the lower lip,* which not 
only causes the loss of the two under front teeth, but drags 
the lip down on the chin, and gives a frightful and disgust- 
ing appearance to the face. 5 ' 

In general the American Indians did not interfere with na- 
ture by disfiguring their teeth. The few instances we have 
observed of such a practice, are as follow: 

Herrera, {Hist. Jimer. iv. 174,) relates, the women of 
Yucatan, "formerly used to saw their teeth." 

Some of the natives of Peru, like the natives of New 
Holland and the Sandwich islands, knocked out their front 
teeth, (Gar cilazo Royal Comment. 354.) Zarate, (Conq. 
Peru, lib. i. chap. 6,) says, some of the Indians near the 
Island of Puna, extracted all the teeth of the upper jaw! 
But this certainly must be a mistake, though founded proba- 
bly in a careless observance of a practice, like the one men- 
tioned by Garcilazo as above quoted. 

Our researches on the physical history of the Aborigines 
of America, have not enabled us to add any thing to the 
physiological history of man. Though we have admitted 
that climate and states of civilization might occasion some 
partial modifications, yet neither as respects their stature, 
physiognomy, or complexion, have we been able to discover 
any common principles, by which we can explain the diver- 
sities that exist in the human family. The discovery cer- 
tainly of a white race, and probably of one that is black in 
America, adjacent to each other, and surrounded by brown 
men on all sides, becomes irreconcileable with any theory, 
that supposes these different complexions to be consequent on 
physical causes. And when we connect these American ano- 
malies, with the existence of brown men in Africa, and 
black men in the islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans, 
who yet live under the same solar influence, and with simi- 
lar uncivilized institutions, we feel more and more reluctant 
to admit that these diversities have originated from partial 
causes. t Men divided into white, brown, and black, have 

*Diod. Sic. lib. iii. chap. i. mentions women in Ethiopia, who hang a brass 
ring at their lips. 

1 1 am fully aware of what has been written by many authors on this sub- 
ject, and am not unwilling to admit, that the diversities of human complexion 
may have originated from natural causes; but not that these effects have 
been produced in their present geographical situations, unless in the most 
partial manner. But it may be necessary to add, that there can be no diffi- 
culty in explaining certain differences of complexion, varieties of hair,&,c, 



32 COMPLEXION, &.C. OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



existed from the earliest times of history, and they have at 
least to our knowledge, continued in those relative states, 
without ever departing from their established characters, 
The observation of Humboldt it would seem is absolutely 
correct, who remarks, "that notwithstanding the variety of 
climates, and elevations inhabited by the different races of 
men, nature never deviates from the models of which she 
made selection thousands of years ago." (Polit. Essay, i. 
109.) 

by the admixture of different coloured stocks, which in a manner may be 
almost infinite, as we know to be the case in the West Indies and our slave 
holding states. Our observations only apply to the white, brown, and black 
complexions, of the greatest intensity of hue. If we can detect the origin 
of these three, we can easily account for all the other modifications. 



CHAPTER II. 



ON THE LANGUAGES OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



We cannot undertake to give a particular account of the 
various languages spoken by the American Indians, for 
nothing can be more imperfect than the materials, that have 
been collected for this purpose. Those who seem to have 
employed themselves most on this part of our subject, con- 
found the understanding, when they enumerate twelve hun- 
dred and fourteen languages and dialects, as being spoken on 
this continent If it be possible to ever reduce these to 
their original radicals, the task I apprehend is reserved for 
our posterity, as a century of labour will be barely sufficient 
for its accomplishment. In the first place, materials have 
not yet been even collected, from many extensive districts, 
and secondly, the least possible reliance can be placed in the 
vocabularies that have been hitherto made. This observa- 
tion may surprise those who have not been employed in 
similar researches ; yet nothing is more true; for these com- 
parative vocabularies have been generally made by travellers, 
traders, and missionaries, who not only had an imperfect 
knowledge of the Indian languages, but were in great n^ea- 
sure, ignorant of the idiomatic peculiarities, by which the 
Indians express their thoughts. Thus, for instance, the 
Reverend Mr. Edwards, observes, "if a Mohegan be asked 
what he calls the hand in his language, at the same time that 
you shew him your hand, he will reply Knisk, which is 
your hand; if you ask the same question, and point to his 
hand, he will answer Nnisk, my hand; and if you point to 
the hand of a third person, he will say Unisk, his hand" 
&c, and in this manner, any one of these words might 
find its way into a vocabulary, as the Indian word for the 
hand. This suppositious case of Mr. Edwards has been ve- 
rified in numerous instances. 

But besides such causes of error, there is another of still 
greater influence, which is thus related by a person well ac- 
quainted with Indian languages. Heckewelder observes, 
that he found himself under very great embarrassment, 



34 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



when he began to learn the Delaware language. If he 
pointed to a tree, and asked the Indians how they called a 
tree, they answered, oak, ash, maple, as the case might be, 
so that at last he found in his vocabulary more than a dozen 
words for tree. Thus we see, that the Indians, unlike civi- 
lized men, do not abstract or generalize their words, but al- 
ways use a specific appellation, or the possessive pronoun, 
or an adjective, in conjunction with the noun. Yet any of 
the combined w r ords so used, are put in our vocabularies as 
the Indian term, for that particular substantive. We may 
have a good idea of the imperfection of the vocabularies so 
made, when we advert to the variety of adjectives that 
might be used; for instance, as applied to a tree, tall, low, 
thick, leafless, dead, green, hollow, young, old, &c. &c, 
in addition to the specific name, hickory, walnut, ash, &c. 
It is no doubt to the ignorance of this circumstance, that the 
Indians are represented to use such long names for simple 
substances. Again, the Indians incorporate among them- 
selves, individuals of other tribes, who necessarily impart to 
one language words or peculiarities of diction from another; 
and the principle of adoption or naturalization being extend- 
ed even to entire tribes, we may easily conceive, what an 
encroachment a different language or dialect, would make 
upon that of the adopting tribe.* 

The fact that the Indians incorporated nations and tribes 
among themselves, is too notorious to require proof; but 
that they continually introduce individuals, even in nume- 
rous instances into their respective societies, is not so well 
known but that some references will be useful. Henepin, 
{Travels, 288,) relates, that the Iroquois in an excursion 
against the Illinois, carried off eight hundred women and 
children. Lewis and Clark, {Travels, i, 86,) observe, "we 
here saw among the Sioux, twenty-five squaws and about 
the same number of children, who had been taken prisoners 
about two weeks ago. 3 ' Smith, {Hist. Virginia, 4, 38,) 
mention instances, where the Indians preserved women as 
prisoners, while they killed the men. Bosnian, {Hist. 
Maryland,) relates an instance of the Susquehannocks car- 
rying off the wives of the Virginia Indians;' and Belknap, 

*Mr. Heckewelder says, "on the subject of numerals, I have had occasion 
to observe, they (the Indians,) sometimes differ very much in languages 
derived from the same stock: which circumstances he was unable to ex- 
plain. It is accounted for by the observation to which this note is made, 
and may be further seen, in the comparative vocabulary of numbers in the 
New York Hist. Coll. iii. 230, where the numbers 3, 4, and 10, are alike in 
the Chikasaw and the Creek; while all the others are entirely different. 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



35 



(Hist. N. Hump. i. 100,) relates a similar outrage among 
those of New England. Now, in all these instances, these 
individuals remained with their captors, as will be seen 
when we treat upon the subject of prisoners of war, and 
whatever language they used, was more or less introduced 
into the nation. Yet very few persons, if any, when mak- 
ing a vocabulary, inquire, whether the individual who com- 
municated words to them, was well instructed in the lan- 
guage, or not, or whether his mother, father, or himself, 
belonged originally to the tribe with whom they sojourn. 

If to this we add the fact, that there is no settled princi- 
ple of orthography, denning how these barbarous languages 
are to be expressed, and that English, French, Germans, 
Spaniards, &e.,* have made such vocabularies, we can rea- 
dily conceive the confusion that prevails among them, and 
how little reliance can be placed upon their labours. Mr. 
Heckewelder says, the vocabularies he has seen of the lan- 
guages with which he was well acquainted, abounded in ri- 
diculous mistakes. See also Dobrizhoffer, (Hist. Jlbipones, 
ii, 159,) for similar observations. 

It seems also, to have been not unfrequently a practice 
with the Indians, to change their words from some supersti- 
tious notions. Dobrizhoffer, (Hist. Jibipones, ii. 203,) has 
given us very express information on this subject. He says, 
"the Abipones do not like that any thing should remain, to 
remind them of the dead, hence appellative words, bearing 
any affinity with the names of the deceased, are presently 
abolished. During the first years that I spent among the 
Abipones, it was usual to say, Hegmalkam kahamatek? 

* Even persons of the same nation give such different examples, that it 
seems impossible to reconcile them. See the Nootka numerals as given by 
Captains Cook and Dixon, Marchand, i. 380. 



NUMBERS. 


COOK. 


DIXON. 




Tsawack, 


Sorwock. 


II . • 


Akkla, 


Athlac. 


III . 


Katsitsa, 


Catsa. 


IV 


Mo or Moo, 


Moo. 


V 


Sochah, 


Soutcha. 


VI 


Nofpo, . 


Noctpoo. 


VII 


Atslepoo, 
Altaquolthl, 


Atklapoo. 


VIII 


Athlaquell. 


IX 


Tsawaquulthl, 


SarvacquelL 


X 


Haeeoo, 


Highhoo. 



We may well say with Azara, ii. 154, who, after stating the Machicuys of 
Paraguay were divided into nineteen tribes, observes, "il est impossible de 
proDoncer les noms, et encore moins de les ecrire — je ne doute pas que si 
on les dictait a vingt personnes, toutes conviendraient qu'il est impossible 
de les ecrire; et si elles voulaient le faire chacune l'executerait d'une ma- 
niere differente. " 



36 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



When will there be a slaughtering of oxen? On account of 
the death of some Abipon, the word kahamatek was inter- 
dicted, and in its stead they were commanded by the voice 
of a cryer to say, Hegmalkam negerkata? The word 
nihirenek, a tiger, was exchanged for apanigehak. Peue, a 
crocodile, for kaeprhak and Kaama, Spaniards, for Rikil, 
because these words bore some resemblance to the names of 
Abipones, lately deceased. Hence it is that our vocabula- 
ries are so full of blots, &c." 

Roger Williams, {Key to Indian Language, 29,) makes 
a similar observation, that the Narragansets lay aside their 
names, as dead when either their sachems or neighbours die, 
who bore similar names. 

As Indian names are derived altogether from sensible ob- 
jects, or vsensible qualities, it is easy to conjecture how much 
a language would be changed, from this preposterous cus- 
tom, during the lapse of a few centuries. 

The reader will perceive from the foregoing observations, 
how unsatisfactory must be the attempt, to give a view of 
the different American languages;* for the chief interest of 
such a classification, is to determine how much they resem- 
ble each other, or how much they differ. Yet that we may 
not seem altogether to neglect this matter, we will subjoin 
the following general sketch of original languages, as far as 
we have been able to trace them, by the researches of other 
writers. 

The whole arctic shore of North America, is possessed 
by the Esquimaux and Greenlanders, who speak an original 
tongue called the Karalit. 

From the confines of these last, and extending on the 
western side of the Mississippi as low as the Sascatchawine 
river, and on the eastern side of the Mississippi as low as the 
states of Georgia and Tennessee, the Algonquin, Chippe- 
way, or Delaware language, prevails in its numerous dia- 
lects. Included in this country, however, is the Wyandot, 
an original language, spoken by the nation of that name, 
and the once famous Iroquois or Six nations, who lived in 
the vicinity of Lakes Erie and Ontario. In all probability, 
there are other distinct languages west of the Mississippi, 
but of which we are as yet too ignorant to speak. 

*"It is impossible from any vocabularies now existing, to arrange the 
American languages into their respective families, separating the primitive 
stocks from one another, and connecting the affiliated dialects; without a 
personal and intimate knowledge of the various tribes." North American 
Review, for January 1826 — 34. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN? 



31 



In Georgia and Tennessee, the Cherokee and the Musco- 
gulgee or Creek languages, abruptly stop the Algonquin or 
Chippeway; these will constitute a fourth, and perhaps the 
fifth original language. From the regions inhabited by 
these people, to the extremity of Florida on the one hand, 
and to the Mississippi, on the other, there are several other 
distinct languages, or widely differing dialects spoken, 
whose relations to each other or to any original language have 
been very imperfectly traced; at any rate, too slightly to 
enable us to speak of them with any precision. 

South of the Sascatchawine, and west of the Mississippi, 
to the frontiers of Mexico, lies an immense country, with 
which we are most imperfectly acquainted. The Sioux, the 
Osages, Panis, and Appaches, seem to constitute as many 
distinct languages. They are at any rate original, when 
compared with those spoken this side of the Mississippi. 

Of the languages spoken from the Esquimaux to Califor- 
nia, and between the Rocky mountains and the Pacific 
ocean, we are in like manner almost entirely ignorant. By 
far the greatest part of this extensive region, has never 
been even visited by a civilized man. 

In California, there appears to be spoken two or more dis- 
tinct languages. What relation they bear to others we 
know not. 

On the frontiers of Mexico, the Ottomite language pre- 
vails. I have seen a few analogies between it and the Che- 
rokee, (Silliman's Journal, iii. 35, &c.) but cannot say any 
thing concerning its originality. 

From these last, as far as Lake Nicaragua, the Mexican 
or Azteck language is said to prevail; including, however, 
fifteen or twenty different languages, whose relation to each 
other are very little understood. The. prevailing opinion is, 
that they are mostly original languages. The northern part 
of South America, is divided among theCaraibs, whose lan- 
guage mixed with some unknown, idioms, prevailed on the 
Atlantic coasts to the equator. The central parts were pos- 
sessed by the Muyscas, who spoke the Chibcha language. 
The Peruvian or Quichua language, extended on the side 
next the Pacific ocean, to Chili. In the central parts of 
South America, in Brazil, Paraguay, and Buenos Ayres, the 
Guarani, was the language chiefly spoken; and lastly, the 
Araucanian, was the language of Chili and Patagonia. 
_ Such, in brief, are the great outlines of the original Ame- 
rican languages, sketched in a most inexact manner, and 
6 



38 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



which may possibly be as much short of the truth, as others 
have exceeded it in their computations.* We have great 
doubts concerning the number of the dialects laid down by sys- 
tematic writers, because of the peculiar circumstances that 
have attended the formation of the vocabularies, upon which 
the calculation has chiefly depended, and whose defects we 
have but just considered. In all probability, instead of the 
twelve hundred and fourteen, which are attributed to Ame- 
rica, there is not a third of that number, unless insignificant 
peculiarities are resorted to, as constituting a dialect.t The 
numerous mistakes of Vater,i in his classification of those 
languages belonging to districts with which we are well ac- 
quainted, induce us to think, that greater inaccuracies pertain 
to those classifications of tribes and nations, concerning 
whom a much greater ignorance prevails. 

The question most interesting to the generality of readers, 
respecting the American languages, is, whether any con- 
nexion exists between them and those of any other people 
of the earth. Though this has been the most direct applica- 
tion of the vocabularies, the comparison of them has been 
attended with any thing but satisfactory conclusion. The 
result of the labours of the most extensive collector of com- 

* Since writing the above, I have been favoured by professor Rafinesque, 
with a tabular view of the original languages of America, which is here 
subjoined, according to his nomenclature. It will be seen that he agrees 
very nearly with me, by estimating them but twenty-five in number at 
farthest, though he thinks a more complete investigation, may possibly re- 
duce them to but eighteen. Thus, for instance, 4 and 5, may be found to be 
the same, so also, 6, 7, 8, and 9, 10, 11, as they have considerable analogies 
with each other, 15, Iv, and 19, approximate also by gradual dialects, with 
17, IS, 20. 

Original American Languages according to Professor Rafinesque. 

NORTH AMERICA. SOUTH AMERICA. 

1 . Uskih, Esquimaux, &c, 15. Jlruac, Arrowack, &c. 

2. Onguy, Wyandot, &c. 16. Calina, Caraib, &c. 

3. Lenap, Chippeway, &c. 17. Puris, Mayapuris, &c. 

4. Wacash, North West Coast. 18. Yarua, Betoy, Charua, &c. 

5. Skere, Paunee, &c. 19. Cuna, Darien, Choco, &c. 

6. Nachez, Natchez, &c. 20. Mayna, Yameos, &c. 

7. Capaha, Sioux, &c. 21. Maca, Muhizca, &c. 

8. Chactah, Chocktaw, &c. 22. Guarani, Guarani, &c. 

9. Otaly, Cherokee, &c. 23. Maran, Peruvian, &c. 

10. Malan, Tarascan, &c. 24. Lule, Abipone, &c. 

11. Olomi, Otomi, &c. 25. Chili, Araucanian, &c. 

12. Jlzteck, Mexican, &c, 

13. Maya, Huasteca, &c. 

14. Chontal, Tzendal, &c. 

f Professor Rafinesque informs me, that if the languages of Europe had 
been subdivided, as has been done with those of America, we should have 
sixty languages in France, one hundred in Italy, &c. 

+ See North American Review, for January 1826, p, 34, &c. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



39 



parative words, is thus given by Malte Brun, (Geog. v. 35,) 
from Vater's Researches, for being ignorant of the German 
language, we are obliged to quote at second hand. "The 
number of analogous words discovered between the various 
American languages, and other parts of the world, are with 
the Coptic and Japanese, eight words; with the Malay, 
eleven; the Sanscrit, five; with the west coast of Africa, 
twenty; with the Biscayan, eight; the Celtic, nineteen; 
the Caucasian, nine." 

These comparisons amount to nothing, for the analogies 
are taken indiscriminately from among the twelve hundred 
and fourteen dialects, which professor Vater attributes to 
America, and when we find Africa affording the greatest 
number, I presume no one will expect to see the mystery 
of the origin of the American Indians, elucidated by philo- 
logy- 

The late Dr. Barton of Philadelphia, was many years em- 
ployed in a similar research, and with about the same suc- 
cess. Though he thought himself justified to conclude, 
that the original population of America was from Asia, yet 
the editor of Rees's Cyclopedia, well observes, "that when 
similarities equally striking, though not so numerous, are 
also pointed out between the language of the Society 
and Friendly islands, Easter island, the Marquesas, and 
certain North American tribes, nay, when the Doctor in- 
forms us, that he has discovered striking affinities between 
the language of these last, and of the Yalofs, one of the 
blackest nations of Africa, the mind instead of resting on 
the stability of conviction, is again lost in an endless and 
perplexing labyrinth of conjecture." 

An attempt has also been made, to compare languages to- 
gether, by translating into various idioms some weil known 
sentence. This though ingenious, has been entirely unsa- 
tisfactory, from our ignorance of the eliptical expressions, 
into which a language throws itself according to its peculiar 
genius. Thus, though the Delaware and Massachusetts In- 
dian languages, are most indubitably dialects of the same 
language, yet if the Lord's prayer, as translated by Eliot in 
his Bible, be compared with that given by Heckewelder in 
Trans. Hist, and Lit. Committee, there will not be found 
two words in these two examples, bearing the least affinity 
to each other. The reason of this may be from various 
causes, but unless a person be grammatically instructed in 
the two dialects, who would have suspected their relation- 
ship, when not the least resemblance between them is to be 
discerned, 



40 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



We may therefore safely assert, that hitherto, no general 
resemblance has been detected between the words of the 
American languages, and those of the eastern continent, which 
may not with more plausibility be referred to the one common 
origin of the human race, than to the affiliation of any one 
nation from the other.* 

The philologists have themselves become aware of the 
errors of their comparative vocabularies; and the ill success 
they have met with in tracing the descent of nations by com- 
paring single words, has induced them to examine languages 
according to their idiomatic or syntactic arrangements. Ba- 
ron Humboldt, whose extraordinary powers of mind have 
made him intimate with the most opposite classes of science, 
observes, "I am well aware that languages are much more 
strongly characterised by their structure and grammatical 
forms, than by the analogy of their sounds and of their roots, 
and that this analogy of sounds is something so disfigured in 
the different dialects of the same tongue, as not to be dis- 
tinguished. 5 ' &c. [Personal Narrative, iii. 251.) 

I venture on a consideration of the syntactic arrangements 
of language, as applicable to our subject, with some hesitation; 
for, in addition to the general obscurity that we have shewn 
hangs over the Indian languages, I find myself in opposition 
to the views that philologists have brought forward concern- 
ing their idiomatic construction. To enter into a critical 
analysis of the subject, not only requires a most extensive 
knowledge of ancient and modern languages, but also a 
mind peculiarly formed by nature, one of great metaphysical 
nicety of perception, to unravel the intricacies of forms of 
words developing thought, in a manner entirely different 
from those to which we are accustomed, and in both of these 
particulars I cannot hesitate to express a sense of my de- 
ficiencies. 

Nevertheless, the subject is interesting, and since a certain 
general attention has been directed to its investigation, we 
feel compelled as it were to make an exposition, at least as 
far as light has been thrown on it, or as far as we have been 
able to comprehend the details. 

These researches into the idiomatic formations of language, 
have been chiefly confined to the German literati, and it is 
only through imperfect accounts given by travellers and very 

* It is admitted that the languages of the Esquimaux and the Tschutchi of 
the eastern extremity of Asia, have a striking resemblance to each other. 
Mo^t writers who have been aware of this fact, derive the latter from Ame- 
rica. I am not prepared to decide on this matter, which is involved with 

some other particulars not easy to explain. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



general critics, that we have been enabled to comprehend 
their views on this subject. Mr, Du Ponceau of Philadel- 
phia, of whom we must make most honourable mention, has 
added essentially to our previously limited knowledge, by 
extensive philological inquiries, published in various works, 
pertaining to the history of the Indian languages. To him 
we confess the greatest obligations, especially as the works 
of Vater, Schlegel, and other such writers in the German 
language continue untranslated. 

As far as concerns our subject, Mr. Du Ponceau considers 
himself justified in making the following declarations. 

1st. That the American languages in general, are rich in 
words and in grammatical forms, and that in their complica- 
ted construction, the greatest order, method, and regularity 
prevail. 

2d. That these complicated forms, called by him Poly- 
synthetic * appear to exist in all those languages from Green- 
land to Cape Horn. 

3d. That these forms appear to differ essentially, from those 
of the ancient and modern languages of the old hemisphere. 

Such are the general views of Mr. Du Ponceau, and several 
other philologers upon this subject, which apparently would 
require much time and labour to examine. We shall not, 
however, enter into any minute investigation of them, but 
keeping the propositions constantly in view, will attempt to 
lay before our readers, such a general view of the construction 
of the Indian languages, as may furnish a tolerable commen- 
tary upon these philological opinions. 

As the grammatical construction, of the Indian languages 
throughout the continent is asserted to be similar, we shall, 
to illustrate our subject, investigate the principles of the lan- 
guage of the Massachusetts Indians, as we have at our hand 

* "The Polysynthetic construction is that, by which the greatest number 
of ideas are comprised in the least number of words. This is done principally 
in two ways, 1st. By a mode of compounding locutions, which is not confin- 
ed by joining two words together, as in the Greek, or varying the inflection 
or termination of a radical word, as in the most European languages, but by 
interweaving together, the most significant sounds or syllables of each simple 
word, so as to form a compound, that will awaken in the mind at once, all 
the ideas singly expressed, by the words from which they are taken. 
2d. By an analogous combination, the various parts of speech, particularly 
by means of the verb, so that its various forms and inflections will express, 
not only the principal action, but the greatest possible number of the moral 
ideas, and physical objects connected with it, and will combine itself to the 
greatest extent with those conceptions, which are the subject of other parts 
of speech, and which in other languages require to be expressed by separate 
and distinct words. Such I take to be the general character of the Indian 
languages." (Mr. Du Ponceau. Hist, and Lit. Trans, xxx.) 



42 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



the writings of the Rev. Mr. Eliot, and Dr. Jonathan Ed- 
wards, who lived among nearly the same tribe, and being 
both very concise,* may be supposed to exhibit more express- 
ly, the peculiarities of that form of speech. 

In attempting to convey to the reader an idea of the idio- 
matic construction of the Indian languages, it must be under- 
stood, that we do so with the view of explaining their pecu- 
liarities alone, and not to point out how these languages origi- 
nated. We believe that God who made man an intellectual 
and social animal, gave him speech, that he might fulfil the 
great purposes of his being; but in what manner he was en- 
abled to connect ideas with sounds and modifications of sounds, 
so as to establish the various parts of speech, and forms of 
language, we profess entire ignorance, even after some tire- 
some reading of essays on this subject, from the pens of 
learned writers. We shall therefore say nothing on this 
subject, but simply take the Indian grammars that lay before 
us, and from them, endeavour to shew in what manner the 
aborigines of America used their words. Perhaps this ex- 
pression is too general, but as Humboldt, Du Ponceau, and 
other learned men, have affirmed that a similarity of idioma- 
tic structure prevails throughout America, we feel compelled 
to adopt this general theory, at least until it be disproved, 
which we have not the means of doing, as may be seen from 
our preceding observations on this subject. Even the lim- 
ited plan we have assigned ourselves, of investigating one 
language alone, has been found to involve so many difficulties, 
from the conciseness of the Indian grammars, and want of 
explanation, that we do not hesitate to say, it has been the 
most perplexing and unsatisfactory part of our researches. 

The Massachusetts Indians, whose language we shall as- 
sume as the representative of all others in America, divided 
their words into articles, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, 
adverbs, conjunctions, and interjections, if this last can be 
called a part of speech. 

As the pronouns, appear to perform the most important 
part of Indian speech, we shall first notice them, as they are 
the scaffolding by which every thing else is built up and ac- 
complished. If their use be fairly comprehended, it seems 

*Yet on the other hand, conciseness is the universal fault of all the Indian 
Grammars 1 have seen. That of Zeisberger which we owe to the care and 
industry of Mr. Du Ponceau, is nearly destitute of explanations and rules, 
though the examples of grammatical forms are numerous. I am not however 
satisfied with this grammar, believing that the author has followed a very 
artificial system of arrangement, not justified by any thing I can perceive, in 
the peculiarity of Indian grammatical constructions. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



43 



to us there is little difficulty in perceiving the whole gram- 
matical construction of the language. These pronouns are 
both personal and possessive, and are as follow: 

SINGULAR. PLURAL. 

Neen — I, me, or my. Neenawun or Kenawun — We, us, our. 

Ken — Thou, or thee, thy. Kenaau — Ye, your. 

Noh or nagum — He, she, it, his. Nahoh or Nagoh — They, them, their. 

Nothing can be more simple; and the various senses in 
which they are to be understood, will be easily perceived 
with a little attention and practice. The reader will also re- 
mark, that the plurals* are formed directly from the singular, 
by the addition of the letters, un — au — oh, with some eupho- 
nic letters. 

When these personal or possessive pronouns are used with 
another word, they are according to the genius of the lan- 
guage, contracted for the first and second persons, into Ne, 
and Ke, which we consider better expressed, by N', K', 
making a harsh aspirate, whose character is given by these 
letters. Instead of Noh, or Nahoh, in the third persons, an 
aspirated sound is given which is that of the letter W, as 
pronounced in ivork, world, &c. For an example we sub- 
join the following word, Me-tah the heart. 

SINGULAR. PLURAL. 

N'tahjjm/ heart, N'tahhun, our heart, 

K'tah, thy heart, K'tahhou, your heart, 

W'tah, his, her or its heart. W'tahhou, their heart.] 

It will be seen that the prefixes, are the same singular and 
plural; but the plurals, suffix the letters, un, ou, ou with h 
euphonic. These are the same terminations that we remark- 
ed above on the pronouns, as distinguishing their plurals, 
from the singular, but here they are suffixed to the word tah. 
The same features may be observed in the use of all their other 
words, which we will not fail to observe in the course of our 

* The Europo-Indian philologers, make mention of a kind of plural which 
they call the particular, or American plural, which signifies according to them, 
we, us, in relation to a particular number of persons, distinguished from an 
indefinite number. This particular plural is not noticed by Eliot, Edwards, 
or Zeisberger, but Mr. Heckewelder, (Trans. Hist, and Lit. Com. 429.) de- 
scribes it distinctly. Mr. Duponceau thinks that Neenawun, of our example, 
is this very plural, which should be distinguished from Kenawun, the indefi- 
nite plural. 

"j Notwithstanding this example in which the personal pronouns are en- 
tirely possessive, it would seem that there is a different manner of express- 
ing possession, which is thus mentioned by Eliot. "The possessive rank of 
nouns is when the person doth challenge an interest in the thing. And it is 
made by adding the syllable eum or oom, according to euphony, unto the 
noun with its proper prefix; for example, N'Mannittoom, my God; N'nun- 
kompoom, my man, &c. 



44 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



progress with this subject, as discriminating between singular 
and plural signification. 

The Indians do not regard sex, but divide their nouns sub- 
stantive, into animate, and inanimate. There is no distinc- 
tion between these two genders in their singular termination, 
though it is well marked in their plurals. 

The animate nouns, make their plural by adding og, to 

the singular after various euphonic letters; as 

Nunkomp — a young man. Nunkompaog — young men. 

Nusquau — a young woman. Nunsquoag — young women. 

The inanimate make their plural in ash, with due eupho- 
ny, as 

Hussun — a stone. Hussunash — stones. 

Mehtug— a tree. Me tugquash— trees. 

Certain anomalies prevail in their genders; as for instance, 
the stars are animate; the different parts of the body are in- 
animate; the virtues and vices are inanimate; &c. 

The numbers are two, singular and plural. 

Their nouns are not varied by terminations, or by the use 
of particles, but by prefixing the personal and possessive 
pronouns, as may be seen in the following example. 
nutcheg — (a) hand. 

SINGULAR. 

N'nutcheg — my hand, N'nutcheganun — our hand, 

K'nutcheg — thy hand, K'nutcbeganou — your hand, 

W'nutcheg — his or her, or its hand. W'nutcheganou — their hand. 

PLURAL. 

N'nutcheganash, . . my hands. 

K'nutchegash or K'nutcheganash, . thy hands. 

W'nutchegash or W'nutcheganash, . his or /ier, or Us hands. 

N'nutcheganunonut, .... our hands. 

K'nutcheganoowout, . . . your hands. 

Wnutcheganoowout, . . . their hands. 

In this example it will be seen that the noun is inanimate, 
by the termination gash, in the plural. But the last three 
persons of the plural have a different termination, which is 
in reality a reduplication of the plural persons singular, with 
ut added for euphony, or as a suppletive, which continually 
occurs in this language. (See Eliot, pages 8, 23.) Though 
this is an anomaly in this noun, Eliot makes no observation 
upon it, which will convey an idea of the carelessness with 
which his grammar has been written; as it is the only sub- 
stantive he introduces, to shew the peculiarity of the declen- 
sions. But the word I presume is undoubtedly correct, for 
we find the same reduplication used by the Delaware In- 
dians: See Zeisberger's Grammar, 38, and example N'ooch, 
my father; N'oochena, oar father; N'oochenana, our fat h- 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



45 



ers. But according to Eliot's rule, the words should termi- 
nate in gashuiii gashou, &c. as an inanimate noun, and we 
know not how to explain this departure, unless by the sup- 
position, that the Indian grammatical rules, throw a very- 
light restraint on their forms of speech, and that little regard 
is paid to genders, &c. by speakers in general. 

Though the manner in which the Indians use their 
nouns seems very peculiar, I rather think that impression 
will be found to arise from the abstract manner, we are accus- 
tomed to learn our own, or the learned languages,* while 
the Indians unaccustomed to abstractions, use their words in 
their restricted or proper sense alone. But with certain 
idiomatic peculiarities, they do express the sense of our 
cases. On this subject, however, our information is very 
meagre, and we shall be obliged to use all our books on the 
different Indian dialects, to make this matter plausible. 

Zeisberger says, {page 37,) that the genitive is expressed 
among the Delawares, by placing the noun employed in that 
sense, immediately before that, which is used in the nomi- 
native; as Getannittowit quisal, God's son. 

The dative, is expressed by the sense given from the verb 
used with the noun; as N'milan, "I give him," i. e. 1 give 
to him. 

The accusative, is also expressed actively by the verb, as 
N'dahoala, I love him. 

The vocative is expressed in the singular by the termina- 
tion an, and in the plural by enk, as W'tochemellan, O, my 
father; Wetochemellenk, O, our father. 

* The declension of nouns in our own language, as in the Greek or Latin, is 
learned entirely abstractedly. We say of a man: to a man; of a father, 
from a father; &c. But the Indians have no use for words in their abstract 
sense. Thus the Rev. Mr. Edwards says, an Indian cannot use the word 
father in an abstract sense. They can say N'ogh my father, K'ogh thy father, 
&c. but if you were to strip the word of the affixes, N' my, and K' thy, and use 
the word ogh, a Mohegan would stare and smile. The same observation is 
applicable to mother, brother, sister, son, head, hand, foot, &c. and in short 
to those things in general, which necessarily in their natural state belong to 
some person. A hatchet is sometimes found without an owner; and there- 
fore they sometimes have occasion to speak of it absolutely, or without re- 
ferring it to an owner, but as head, hand, &c. naturally belong to some per- 
son, and they have no occasion to speak of them without referring to the 
person to whom they belong, so they have no words to express them abso- 
lutely." 

This is in reality the case with every rude nation. Thus the people of Ja- 
va, in the Indian ocean, have two or three names for each metal, but have 
no word equivalent to the general term metal. They have five names for a 
dog; six for a hog or elephant; seven for a horse; but they have no word or 
term signifying animal, as an abstract noun. (Crawfura" > s Hist. Indian Jlrchip, 
ii. 8.) 

7 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



The ablative or local case, is formed by means of the suf- 
fixes ink and unk, which express in, on, out of, as Utenink 
N'da, I am going into town; Utenink N'oon, I am coming 
out of town. 

The Rev. Mr. Edwards says, the Mohegan Indians have 
the prepositions Anneh to, and Ocheh from, in their dialect: 
but that to, and from, are almost always expressed by an 
alteration of the verb. Thus if I would say, I ride to Stock- 
bridge, whose Indian name is Wnoghquetookoke; I must 
not say anneh Wnoghquetookoke n'doghpeh, but must say 
Wnoghquetookoke n'dannetoghpeh; and to say I ride from 
Stockbridge, we must not prefix ocheh, but must say 
Wnoghquetookoke n'ochetogpeh. 

Notwithstanding our respect for the authority of Mr. Ed- 
wards, we think him mistaken in the example he has given; 
for it appears to us only an idiomatic peculiarity in affixing 
the prepositions and not by an alteration of the verb, for 
both to, and from, are distinctly expressed. In the first 
example, it is only the euphonic letter d, before the vowel, 
that occasions the apparent change of the verb, as the sim- 
ple inspection of the word, alone seems to shew. In the 
last example, the preposition is distinctly prefixed to the 
verb. 

Eliot in but one instance informs us, how the Massachu- 
setts Indians express a case, which is that of the ablative. 
This is done by adding ut or it to the word; thus, N'eek is 
my house; N'eekit is in my house. 

The Massachusetts Indians have adjectives in their lan- 
guage, that agree with noun and pronoun, in number, per- 
son, and gender, and which are either animate or inanimate. 

The animate adjective singular, according to Eliot, ends 
in es or esu, the plural, like animate nouns, ends in og. 

The inanimate singular, ends in i or e, and the plural in 
ash, like the inanimate nouns; for instance, 

SINGULAR. PLURAL. 

Animate. Wompes — (lohite,) . . . Wompesuog. 

Mooesu — (black,) . . . Mooesuog. 

Inanimate. Wompi— (white,) . . . Wompiyeuash. 

Mooi — (black,) .... Mooesuash. 

When the adjective is used with a noun, the two words 
are generally contracted together into one word, thus Worn- 
posketomp is a white man, and is compounded of Wompes 
tuhite, and Wosketomp man, &c. 

The degrees of comparison, are expressed by words sig- 
nifying more, and more and more; much, small, &c. 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



47 



The general opinion is, that Indians have few proper ad- 
jectives,* and that they express the qualities of substantives 
by neuter verbs. We consider this a mistake, arising from 
a peculiarity in the use of the personal pronouns, which 
supply, as we shall presently see, the want of the substan- 
tive verb to be-, and the possessive pronouns, that serve for 
the auxiliary verb to have; which two verbs are at least, ge- 
nerally wanting in the Indian languages. 

From this defect, it will be seen at once, that any noun or 
adjective becomes as it were a verb, simply by affixing the 
pronouns: for the sense in which they are used, shew the 
substantive verb to be understood: thus, Wosketomp is a 
man, prefix the inseparable pronoun N J , and it is N'woske- 
tomp, / man; that is, / am a man. K ? wosketomp, thou 
man; that is, thou art a man, &c. And thus, the adjec- 
tive Wompes, white, with the prefixes, becomes N J wompes, 
I white; i. e. I am white; K ? wompes, thou white; i. e. thou 
art white, &c. And thus the reader can readily perceive, 
that almost any word in the language can be thrown into the 
form of a verb: but it is no more a verb proper, than the 
same words are verbs in the English language. 

We have already observed, that the pronouns were the 
most important parts of speech in the Indian languages; we 
have shewn this in their usage of nouns and adjectives; and 
they will appear in like manner, according to our apprehen- 
sion, to be the essential parts of the verb. In the right un- 
derstanding that the personal pronouns, impliedly signify 
according to sense, the substantive verb to be, and the aux- 
iliary to have, in connexion with their meaning as pronouns, 
will be found an easy solution of all the exaggerated forms of 
the Indian verbs, whose paradigms confound the reader with 
the multiplicity of their conjugations, forms, transitions, &c, 
which as far as I can .perceive, are formed of a variety of 
words compounded together according to the required sense, 
but which the Indian grammarians blend together as one 
word. 

Notwithstanding the multiplied conjugations and forms, 
that have been ascribed to the Indian verbs, we cannot per- 
ceive in the grammars we have consulted, in reality more 

*The Rev. Mr. Edwards says, "the Mohegans have no adjective in all 
their language, unless we reckon numerals, and such words as, all, many, fyc. 
adjectives. Of adjectives that express the qualities of substances 3 I do not 
find they have any. 

They express those qualities by neuter verbs; as W'nissoo, he is beautiful; 
pehtunquissoo, he is tall; W'sconmoo, he is malicious, &c. Thus in the Latin 
many qualities are expressed by verbs neuter, as valeo, caleo, frigeo," &c. 



48 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



than one form; though we shall for the present allow them 
two. One of these employs the verb in the neuter sense, and 
the other is properly transitive; but which we think better 
denominated by the Indian grammarians "personal verbs." 
We shall give an example of the neuter verb, to shew its gram- 
matical construction; and such part of a personal verb, as may 
be deemed sufficient for our general purpose. The verb we 
propose to exhibit is one given by Eliot in his grammar, as 
illustrating the simplest form of verbs, it is N'waantam, / 
am wise. 

In strictness, we consider this verb, to be the adjective 
wise, in conjunction with the several personal pronouns, but 
thrown into a verbal form. The substantive verb to be, is 
distinctly conveyed in sense by the pronouns. 

INDICATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

N'waantam, I (am) wise, N'waantamumun, we (are) wise, 

K'waantam, thou (art) wise, K'waantamumwoo, ye (are) wise, 

W'aantam noh, he (is) wise. Waantamwog, they (are) wise. 

PERFECT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

N'waantamup, I was wise, N'waanlamumunonup, we were wise. 

K'waantamup, thou wast wise, K'waantamumwop, ye were wise, 

"VV'aantamup, he was wise. W'aantamupaneg, they were wise. 

IMPERATIVE MOOD. 
Singular. Plural. 

Waantamuttuh, be ye wise. 
Waantash ) , ., . Waantamook )*..*. 

Waantaj \ be thou mse ' Waantamohettich \ be 

OPTATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. 

N'waantamun-toh, I icish I vsere wise, 
K'waantanrjn-toh, you wish you were wise, 
W'aantaniun-toh, he ivishes he teas wise. 
Plural. 

N'waantamunan-toh, we wish we were wise, 
KVaantamunan-toh, ye wish ye were wise, 
W'aantamuneau-toh, they wish they were wise, 

PERFECT TENSE. 

Singular. 

NVaantamunaz-toh, / wish I had been wise, 
K'waantamunaz-toh, thou wishest thou had been wise, 
Waantamunaz-toh, he wishes he had been wise. 
Plural. 

N'waantamunanoiz-toh, we wish we had been wise, 
K'waantamunaoiz-toh, ye wish ye had been wise, 
W'aantamunaoiz-toh, they wish they had been wise. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



49 



SUPPOSITIVE MOOD. 



PRESENT TENSE. 



Singular. 
Waantamon, if I was wise, 
Waantaman, if thou wast wise, 
Waantog, if he was wise. 



Plural. 



Waantamog, if we were ivise, 
Waantamog, if ye were wise, 
Waantamohetti t,ifthey were wise. 



PERFECT TENSE. 



Singular. 
Waantamos,°i/ I had been wise, 
Waantamas, if thou had been ivise, 
Waantogkis, if he had been wise. 



Plural. 



Waantamogkis, if we had been wise, 
Waantamogkis, if ye had been wise, 
Waantamohettis,i/7/iey hadbeen wise. 



INFINITIVE. 
Waantamunat, to be wise. 

Eliot, from whom this paradigm has been taken, has not 
affixed any English signification to it, which however is es- 
sential to a correct understanding of the Indian verbal sense. 
I have attempted to give his meaning, but do not vouch for 
more than a general accuracy, nor is there any one within 
several hundred miles, to whom I could apply for informa- 
tion. If any of my readers look into these forms with phi- 
lological scrutiny, they must take the verb as Eliot gives it, 
omiting my translation. 

On examining the different personalities of this verb, we 
find, that the present tense indicative, is constructed exactly 
like the declension of the noun. We may perceive the same 
prefixes, both singular and plural, and the same plural affixes, 
that belong to the plural pronouns, or plural use of the nouns. 

The perfect tense, diners only from the present, by the 
addition of the letters up, which are added to the end of the 
different persons, and which implies a perfected sense. 
Whether it be really a verbal termination, or some contract- 
ed particle, I know not. 

How the imperative mood is formed, I cannot perceive, 
but consider it most probable, that the ash, and aj, are eu- 
phonic suppletives, the tone of whose expression denotes 
command. Eliot says, there is no formation by which we 
can express petition, as let me be wise; but that to convey 
the sense of this prayer, we must add the word pa, to the 
present indicative, thus Pa N'waantam, let me be wise. 

The optative mood, present tense, is, according to our 
views, the present tense indicative, with the euphonic letters 
un added, in order to express distinctly the sound of the ad- 
verb toh, wish, the same as the latin word utinam. 

The perfect tense adds az and oiz, according to Eliot's or- 
thography, to the present indicative, which seemingly im- 
plies verbal inflection; but this can hardly be the case, as the 



50 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



adverb toh, is in like manner added to make the sense; most 
probably, therefore, they are only euphonic sounds. 

The suppositive mood, has no pronouns prefixed, but 
seems to have them affixed, with other letters, probably eu- 
phonic. The sense is most probably dependant on the sig- 
nificant manner in which the phrase was used. 

The infinitive, is said to be the radical with the termina- 
tion at annexed; but I consider this inaccurate, and that the 
Indians, properly speaking, had no infinitive. According to 
Eliot himself, (Grammar 24,) the sense of the infinitive 
mood is given by one verb being preceded by another. 
The Rev. Mr. Edwards expressly says, the Mohegans never 
use a verb in the infinitive mood, or indeed in any abstract 
sense, which is confirmed by the North American Review. 
(Jan. 1826, p. 30.) 

The reader cannot have failed to remark, that there is no 
future tense given in this paradigm. Eliot says, the sense of 
the future is given by adding to the present indicative 
the words, mos, pish, signifying shall, or will, or futurity, 
yet he might as well have introduced this tense as his opta- 
tive mood, which is equally a compounded phrase. But in all 
probability, the future tense is chiefly understood among the 
Indians, from its absolutely necessary connexion with the 
time of the action; as for instance, Mr. Edwards says, "to 
express both the past and the future, they generally use the 
form of the present tense, as Wnukwoh n'diotuwohpoh, yes- 
terday 1 fought, or wnukuwoh n'diotuwoh, yesterday I 
fight; n'diotuwauch wupkoh, I shall fight to-morrow, or 
wupkauch n'diotuwoh, to-morrow I fight. In this last case 
the variation of ivnpkoh to ivupkauch, denotes the future 
tense, and this variation is in the word to-morrow, not in the 
word to fight." 

Eliot subjoins to this paradigm, one of the same verb in its 
negative form, but which we cannot think entitled to any 
particular consideration, as it is precisely the same verb with 
the adverb "mo," not, added to it, and can no more be con- 
sidered a verb, than the vulgar phrase, I a'nt wise, you a'nt 
wise, &c. which might also be carried through a regular con- 
jugation. 

Having thus given an example of an Indian verb in its 
most simple form, we now pass on to some of those apparent- 
ly complicated verbal forms, that have so much excited the 
attention of philologists. The one we propose exhibiting in 
part, is of the personal form; which we consider to be the 
only one in use among these people, where the sense is not 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



51 



confined as in neuter verbs. Neither do we perceive it to 
be so much a verb, as a conjugated phrase; which our own 
language with a little alteration of spelling, can be made to 
represent precisely. 

In the preceding paradigm, the pronouns were alone pre- 
fixed, in the following they are both prefixed and suffixed ; 
for it appears they never use a verb in an abstract sense. 
The Rev. Mr. Edwards observes, "The Mohegans never use 
a verb in the infinitive mood, or without a nominative or 
agent, and never use a transitive verb, without expressing 
both the agent and the object, corresponding to the nomina- 
tive and accusative cases in Latin. Thus, they can neither 
say, to love, nor, / love, thou givest, &c. but, they say, 1 
love thee, thou givest him, &c* 

"Another peculiarity is, that the nominative and accusa- 
tive pronouns prefixed and suffixed, are always used, even 
though other nominatives and accusatives be expressed: thus 
they cannot say, John loves Peter, they always say, John 
he loves him, Peter; John uduhwhunuw Peteran. Hence, 
when the Indians begin to speak English, they universally 
express themselves according to this idiom." 

For an example, I subjoin the indicative mood, present 
tense, of the verb paum, which is according to Eliot the In- 
dian adoption of our English verb to pay. The reason the 
venerable missionary assigns, for introducing it in his gram- 
mar, is equally applicable to our purpose, "that we can thus 
better perceive what are the grammatical forms of the lan- 
guage, they being added throughout to the radical paum." 

INDICATIVE MOOD. 

PRESENT TENSE. 

Singular. Plural. 

K'paumush, I pay thee. K'paumunumun, we pay thee. 

N'payum, I pay him. N'paumoun, we pay him. 

K'paumunumwoo, I pay ye. K'paumunumun, we pay ye. 

N'paumoog, I pay them. N'paumounonog, we pay them, 

K'paumeh, thoupayest me. K'paumimwoo, ye pay me. 

K'paum, thou payest him. K'paumau, ye pay him. 

K'paumimun, thoupayest us. K'paumimun, ye pay us. 

K'paumoog, thou payest them. K'paumoog, ye pay them. 

N'paumuk, he payeth me. N'paumukquog, they pay me. 

K'paumuk, he payeth thee. K'paumukquog, they pay thee. 

U'paumuh, he payeth him. Upaumouh, they pay him. 

K'paumukqun, he payeth us. N'pauumukqunonog, they pay us. 

K'paumukou, he payeth ye. K'paumukoog, they pay ye. 

Upaumuh nah, he payeth them. Upaumouh nah, they pay them. 

* An Indian cannot say J love, lhate, I fear, abstracted from the operation 
of the verb upon the object. He must say, friend 1 love him, enemy I hate 
him, bear I fear him, (JV. A. Review, Jan. 1826, ». 30 ) 



5g 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



The reader from this specimen of the present tense alone, 
may form some idea of the number of pages it would re- 
quire to complete the paradigm for this personal form; and 
how impossible it would be, in so general an essay as the 
present, to introduce the reflected, compulsive, meditative, 
communicative, reverential, frequentative, and other circum- 
stantial forms, which philologists have attributed to the In- 
dian languages. 

At first sight, this verb paum appears to be inflected by 
terminations, as well as by prefixes; but a little examination 
will shew, that each personality is three distinct words, 
which really constitute a phrase, blended and contracted into 
one word, according to the genius of the Indian languages; 
whose remarkable power in contracting compound words, 
we shall presently notice. But if we were to express Eng- 
lish words according to their sound alone, as has been done 
with the Indian verb, instead of writing I pay you, it would 
be Ipayu; for he pays you, it would be hepaysu; for I 
pay him, Ipayim; for you pay him, upayim, &c. 

It is possible, this may not be the case entirely, with the 
Indian verb, but if we can shew it to be a distinguishing fea- 
ture in most of its parts, with the very inconsiderable know- 
ledge we have of its elements, we may by fair analogy infer 
it generally throughout its formation, especially, when we 
shall have shewn how difficult it is for an European ear, to 
detect the various radicals, when compounded together into 
the one word, by which the sense is conveyed. 

Should any one think, I am taking an unjustifiable liberty 
with the spelling of the Indian words as given by Eliot, I 
would beg him to remember, that his orthography was made 
after his own ideas of the sound of the Indian words, and is 
without doubt, very inaccurate when compared with what 
the Moravians have done for the language of the Delaware 
Indians. But I shall not so much change the sounds, as ex- 
press them by other letters, which have what I deem the 
fact, the characteristic sounds of the language; the most im- 
portant of which will be to insert the W sound, of which 
we spoke when treating of the third personal pronouns, both 
singular and plural. This particular sound might be ex- 
pressed nearly by oo, or uo; but we prefer using the W, as 
it will mark more precisely the distinction, in the instances 
where we think those pronouns manifest their presence. 

The letters added for sake of euphony, are very numerous 
in Eliot's orthography; though not so much so in the exam- 
ple given, as in other parts of the same paradigm. These 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



58 



euphonic sounds of all others, the most difficult to ascertain 

in an unwritten language, are introduced by him chiefly in m, 

n, oo, p, q, t, u, z, &c. combined with different vowels, 

which add materially to the apparent length of the words. 

He also says, we must read paum, paym, though he spells 

it constantly, paum. 

I consider the example already given, is to be thus parsed: 
K'paumush, K is the pronoun thou or thee; paumush 

signifies in this combination, I pay; the sh suffixed, I cannot 

detect, but the words are thee pay I. 

N'payum — it should be N'pay'w'm; N is the pronoun I; 

pay the radical; w is the pronoun him, blended with the m 

of the noot. 

K'paumunumwoo — seems to be, K'paum uN* umwou; la- 
terally you pay I, but with the plural termination wou, 
shews it to be ye. I do not however see clearly the compo- 
sition of this phrase. 

N'paumoog — is explicitly, W I, paum, pay, og them: 
this last is the contraction of the demonstrative pronoun, 
yeug, these or them. 

K'paumeh — is, K ? thou, paumeh payeth me. I do not re- 
cognize the pronoun /, in this expression. 

K'paum — thou payest him; it should be K'pau'w'm: the 
w blended with the radical, marks the pronoun him. 

K'paumimun — is K, thou; paum, payeth; imun, us; the 
un, is the last part of the pronoun Neenawun, we; the other 
letters are euphonic. 

K'paumoog — is K'thoic; paum payeth; og, or yeug them. 

N'paumuk — is N', me; paum, payeth; w'k he; the k for 
euphony. 

K'paumuk — -is K,' paum'wk; K', thee; paum, payeth; 
w'k, him; as before. 

Upaumuh — should be, W'paum'w; literally, he payeth he. 

K'paumukqun — is embarrassed by the plural termination 
being added after the pronoun w, represented by Eliot in the 
u, which precedes the k. The w T ord probably should have 
been written, K'paum'w'kun. 

K'paumukou — considered similar in construction with the 
preceding. 

Upaumuh-nah — is distinctly marked, but should be 
W'paum-uh-nah, W, he; paum, payeth; nah, them; the uh 
for euphony. 

With this example of parsing, any one may detect the 
plural pronouns in the remaining parts of the paradigm, we 
do not think it necessary to go further in the analysis. 
8 



54 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



Though we may not have succeeded in shewing that every 
personality of this Indian verb, exhibits three distinct words, 
yet it is so apparent in the far greater number we have 
examined, that it seems no one can reasonably deny, that 
this personal verb, as it is called, is but a conjugated phrase, 
arranged in every possible manner it could be used in a 
spoken language; and which may with additional words, be 
carried through all possible moods and tenses, as it has been 
done by Eliot and other Indian grammarians. 

As for the circumstantial forms, they appear in like man- 
ner to be phrases compounded of pronouns, adverbs, adjec- 
tives, and other parts of speech, which are or may be used 
in a verbal form: and which, according to my apprehension, 
are no ways peculiar to the American Indians; for they are 
constantly used in those forms among ourselves, and may be 
varied to an almost infinite degree. But the Indians have 
an advantage over us, in the singular peculiarity by which 
they contract these various words into apparently one word. 
In this remarkable feature will be found, I think, the only 
claim the Indians have to richness of language, for their 
grammatical forms seem to hang together, with a very loose 
accommodating generality of expression, to which it is ne- 
cessary to add gestures or significant looks, to make them 
intelligible.* 

There is, says an able writer in the North American Re- 
view, "in all our Indian languages a strong tendency to com- 
bination. We believe they were originally monosyllabic in 
their formation, and extremely limited in their application. 
Even now, at least one fourth part of the Chippeway words 
are monosyllables. As the poverty of these languages be- 
came apparent, and necessity required the introduction of 
new terms, they were formed by the combinations of words 
already existing. It is not easy to define the limits of this 
principle, nor to analyse the rules of its application; some 
letters are omitted, and the changes are frequently so great, 
as to render it difficult to reduce the words to their original 
elements." 

* "No man has ever seen an Indian in conversation without being sensible, 
that the head and the hands, and the body, are all put in requisition, to aid 
the tongue in the performance of its appropriate duty." JV". Ji. Review, 
January, 1326. 

A similar character is given of the Greenlanders, who "accompany many 
words not only with a particular accent, but with a certain significant look, 
which is necessary to be regarded, in order to ascertain their meaning." 
Kees's Cyclopedia, Art. Greenland. 

Juarros says of the Indians of Guatimala, that "the enunciation of words 
with more or less force, frequently conveys a different and sometimes an op- 
posite signification Hist, of Gaulimala, 199. 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



55 



Mr. Heckewelder, has given us a few examples of the 
manner in which the several words of a phrase are con- 
tracted into one word, which displays so minutely this pe- 
culiarity, that we shall introduce them in the present page. 
The word nadholineen in the Delaware language, means 
according to him, {Trans. Hist, and Lit. Com. 406,) 
"come with the canoe and take us across the stream;" its 
component parts are as follow, the first syllable nad, is de- 
rived from the verb naten to fetch, the second hoi, is from 
amochol a canoe; ineen is the verbal termination for us. 
The simple ideas therefore contained in this word, are, fetch 
canoe us; but in its usual and common acceptation means, 
come and fetch us across the river with a canoe. I need 
not say that this verb is conjugated through all its moods and 
tenses." 

"The tree which we call the Spanish oak, remarkable for 
the largeness of its leaves, they call Jlmanganaschquimin- 
schi; 'the tree which has the largest leaves shaped like a 
hand.' If I were to imitate the composition of this word 
in English, I would say largehandleaf nut tree, and softening 
the sounds after the Indian manner, it would perhaps make 
larjandliff entree, or larj and tennut tree; or something 
like it. Of course in framing the word, an English ear 
should be consulted." 

I have not sufficient knowledge of unwritten languages 
foreign to America, to say, whether the same peculiarities of 
contraction are used elsewhere, but I strongly suspect that 
they are characteristic of the savage state almost universally, 
Man seems naturally pleased with contracting words and ex- 
pressions into small compass; and in unwritten languages, 
where there is no standard of correct speaking, this feature 
will predominate more and more continually. In America, 
where there was a continual adoption of individuals of dif- 
ferent nations into their respective tribes, the effect would 
constantly be, that all simply auxiliary words would be 
overlooked and neglected by uninstructed speakers, who 
would use the essential words of the language for the most 
part alone, it not being a difficult matter to use them with 
all the intelligence their wants required. Such a practice 
would at least affect the more important words, so that a part 
of a word, or syllable, from its combination with other syl= 
lables, would convey the desired sense. I think this feature 
may be recognised in our own language, to a much greater 
degree than will at first be suspected, and however uncouth 
many of our phrases would look, were we to write them as 



5^ 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



they are pronounced, yet any one would be considered sin- 
gularly precise, who would speak them as they are written. 
I subjoin the following instances, to mark the disposition 
even among ourselves, to contract our words, which as spo- 
ken, are spelt nearly in the following manner. I'm lovd, 
yur lovd; he's lovd, I'v'lovd, I'l'lov, I'd'lov, I ca'nt lov, I 
wo'nt lov, I sha'nt lov, &c. ; with all other phrases in which 
our auxiliary verbs are used. Yet we recognise at once, in 
these sounds, the composition of the phrase, though some of 
its parts are reduced to single letters alone; and if a state of 
great debasement, and loss of letters was to take place with us, 
the facility of contraction, checked by the ear alone, would 
be greatly increased. 

We have hitherto considered the syntactic construction of 
the American languages, throughout the continent, to be si- 
milar; but the time has now arrived in the progress of our 
investigation, to express some doubt as to this precise re- 
semblance. Even at this early period of making such re- 
searches, features of difference have been made known, 
which must tend greatly to weaken so universal a theory. 

Eliot, Edwards, Heckewelder, and Zeisberger, say, there 
is no substantive verb in the Delaware and Massachusetts 
Indian languages, and which we have also exhibited by our 
verbal paradigms.* But the author of the article in the N. 
A. Review, (Jany. 1826,) observes, the substantive verb, 
(sum of the Latin) is found both in the Miami and Sioux 
languages. And Baron Humboldt expressly says, it is found 
in the Chayma and Tamanack languages, of South America. 
(Pers. Nar. iii. 258.) 

It is easy to perceive where this is the case, that the ver- 
bal forms must be very different from those used by nations 
who have no such verb. 

The Spaniards have conjugated the Mexican and other 
languages, according to all the forms of the Latin verbs, 
even to the gerunds and supines, the correctness of which 
Mr. Du Ponceau doubts. But, if he be right in his conjec- 
ture, surely little or no authority can be given to such gram- 
mars, and if they be exact, there is the greatest difference 
between their formation of the verb, and what is represent- 
ed to be the case with the more northern Indians. 

The Cherokee language has a dual number, according to 
Mr. Pickering, (.see Eliot's Grammar, xx,) and this peculiar- 

* Dobrizoffer (Hist. Abipones, ii. 183) says, neither the Guaranies nor the 
Abipones of Paraguay, have a substantive verb; and he illustrates this by 
various examples. 



OP THE AMERICAN INDIANS, 



57 



ity distinguishes the Karalit, or language of the Esquimaux* 
(Cyclopedia, art. Greenland.) 

With respect to minor differences, we are embarrassed 
with the conflicting statements given by different writers, 
which at any rate shew, that the subject is very imperfectly 
understood. Thus Eliot says, the Massachusetts Indians 
have only animate or inanimate nouns; and this is the case 
with the Delawares, according to Heckewelder. But Zeis- 
berger remarks, their nouns are masculine, feminine, and 
neuter. In the Onondago language, there are, according to 
one grammar, only masculine and feminine nouns; and in 
another by the same author, (Zeisberger) there are mascu 
line, feminine, and neuter nouns. (New York Hist. Coll. 
iii. 246.) 

Mr. Du Ponceau observes, that notwithstanding Eliot's 
positive statement, that substantives are not distinguished by 
cases, except as above mentioned, we are surprised to find 
different terminations of the same word, in various parts of 
his translation of the Bible. See notes to Eliot's Gram. xiv. 

The interrogative pronoun who, Eliot, Zeisberger, and 
Heckewelder, say, is used in the languages of the Massachu- 
setts and Delaware Indians; yet the author of the Article in 
the N. A. Review, previously quoted, says "there is no 
word for who, in the whole range of the Indian languages, 
as far as we are acquainted with them, and there is certain- 
ly none in the Delaware." 

The Rev. Mr. Edwards asserts, there is neither who, nor 
which, in the language of the Mohegans, who were one of 
the Massachusetts tribes. 

From what has been generally brought forward upon the 
subject of the Indian languages, I think it will appear, that 
our knowledge of them is meagre and uncertain, but there 
seems enough known, to make us doubt very much, the high 
eulogiums that have been given to their syntactic construc- 
tion. It appears to me, that the idea of their grammatical 
richness, has arisen, partly, from misapprehended views of 
the missionaries, who in testifying to the capacity of the In- 
dians for moral instruction, have only asserted a sufficient 
richness in their languages, by which any kind of ideas 
might be brought within the sphere of their capacities, and 
partly, from the surprise of philosophers, in perceiving the 
perfection with which the Indians express their thoughts. 
The philologers, considering only the barbarism of their con- 
dition, did not expect to see abstract subjects so directly 
brought to their comprehension; and then perceiving the 



58 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



mechanism by which the idea was expressed, have imagined 
a perfection of plan in the contrivance, that does not belong 
to the construction of any language, but is alone referrible 
to the intellectual powers of man, considered as a rational 
and intelligent being. Now, man is every where the same, 
as regards his capacities, and having the power of speech, he 
expresses all his hopes, enjoyments, and fears, by intelligi- 
ble sounds or words; and these emotions of the head or the 
heart, though differing in intensity, are certainly the same in 
the savage, as in the civilized man. The progress of civili- 
zation makes nicety of distinction more necessary, and new 
words are continually made according to the genius of the 
people, to meet their intellectual wants. If, however, we 
compare a rude and barbarous language, with one both civil 
ized and polished, there is a prodigious difference in the 
quantity of words. But if we reduce the words of the cul- 
tivated language, to heads, under a rigorous classification, I 
think it will be found, that the barbarous language has just 
as many heads or original words; and that the excess of 
words in the former language, are only the various degrees 
of expression, or differences of intensity, that have arisen 
from the restricted signification of the original words. 

It has been justly observed by Humboldt, (Pers. Nar. 
iii. 269,) "that those languages, the principal tendency of 
which is inflection, excite less the curiosity than those which 
seem formed by aggregation. * In the first, the elements of 

* Aggregation, or agglutination, are techinal words in philological science, 
which distinguish one of the two different classes, into which all spoken lan- 
guage has been divided by Mr. F. Schlegel; a distinguished German philoso- 
pher -whom we quote at second hand from Humboldt. (Pers. Nar. iii. 263.) 
Of these two classes, "one more perfect in its organization, more easy and 
rapid in its movements, indicates an interior development by inflection; while 
the other, more rude and less susceptible of improvement, presents only a 
crude assemblage of small forms or agglutinated particles, each preserving the 
physiognomy which is peculiar to itself, when it is separately employed." 

Of these classes, the Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, German, &c, belong to the 
first. The Indian languages of America, the Coptic or ancient Epyptian, 
and to a certain degree, the Hebrew, Arabic, Biscayan, &c. belong to the se- 
cond. 

We think the theory entitled to little consideration; believing. with many 
grammarians, that the terminations of words according to inflection, were 
originally personal pronouns, or particles, which have gradually become 
blended with the radical. I presume, Humboldt was of this opinion; for he 
supports this view by the following note. "Even in the Sanscrit, several 
tenses are formed by aggregation; for example, in the first future, the sub- 
stantive verb to be, is added to the radical. In a similar manner, we find in 
the Greek mach-eso, if the s be not the effect of inflection, and in Latin 
pot-ero, (Bopp, p. 26 and 66.) These are examples of incorporations and 
agglutinations in the grammatical system of languages, which are justly 
cited as models of an interior development by inflection. In the grammati- 



OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



which words are composed, and which are generally re- 
duced to a few letters, are no longer distinguished. These 
elements, when isolated, exhibit no meaning; the whole is 
assimilated and mingled together. The American languages, 
on the contrary, are like complicated machines, the wheels 
of which are exposed. The artifice is visible; I mean the 
industrious mechanism of their construction." 

It now only remains for us to ascertain, whether there be 
any thing peculiar to the American Indians, in the gramma- 
tical construction of their language, which remarkably dis- 
tinguishes them from other nations of the eastern continent 

When we consider the very imperfect manner in which 
vocabularies have been made, both among the American In- 
dians, and the rude nations of Asia and Africa, and the still 
less attention that has been paid to their grammatical forms, 
I cannot believe, that the American languages are thus insu- 
lated in their structure, as the writings of the philologists 
seem to indicate. The love of system has undoubtedly 
much prevailed, in making such a distinction in the classifi- 
cation of languages; for there is an evident disregard to 
numerous or extensive analogies, that do exist between the 
construction of the American, and other languages, in va- 
rious parts of the earth, which we beg leave to point out, at 
least to a certain extent. It is admitted by philologists, that 
the language of the Tscbuktshi of Asia, that of Biscay in 
Spain, and of Congo in Africa, bear striking resemblances 
to our Indian forms of speech; we do not say in every par- 
ticular, but in their general features there are evident marks 
of conformity of structure. 

Nor is this resemblance confined to Congo alone, among 
the African languages. Mr. Du Ponceau (Hist, and Lit. 
Trans, xlv. ) says, there is great reason to believe, that the 
same grammatical construction extends to all the black na- 
tions, that inhabit that coast. 

The language of the Grusians, a nation of Asia, appears to 
bear a striking resemblance in some of the forms of its verbs, 
to those of the American Indians. (Hist, and Lit. Trans. 
xlii.) 

The resemblance in the structure of the Indian languages, 
and that of the Hebrew, is so great, as to have misled many 

cal system of the Americans, for example in the Tamanach, tareschi, I will 
carry, is equally compounded of the radical ar, (infin, jareri, to carry,) and 
of the verb substantive ecschi, (infin, noschiri, to be.) There hardly exists in 
the American languages a triple mode of aggregation, of which we cannot 
find a similar and analogous example, in some other language, that is sup- 
posed to develop itself only by inflection." (Pers. Nar. iii. 264.) 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



persons speculating on the origin of the Indians, as to assign 
them a Jewish descent. But rejecting this silly notion, the 
syntactic construction of these languages is similar, and the an- 
alogies are widely extended by this means, to the Chaldeac, 
or Assyrian, the Phoenecian, and other cognate languages. 
As these last, are connected in a greater or less degree, with 
those of all the surrounding nations, it seems impossible to 
say, where we shall assign the limits to a less particular re- 
semblance.* 

Under these circumstances, therefore, I cannot admit with- 
out greater proof, that the forms of grammar among the 
American Indians, are peculiar to them alone. On the con- 
trary, they appear to bear evident marks of similar construc- 
tion, with those of various other nations, testifying a common 
origin with them, and to communications which perhaps re- 
mount to the earliest history of our race, when in all likeli- 
hood, every language decidedly belonged to the agglutinated 
form: for it appears most probable, that inflections by termi- 
nations, are in reality only parts of the personal pronouns, or 
auxiliary words, that have been gradually and insensibly 
blended to the various parts of speech, subject to declen- 
sions or conjugations, t 

But whatever diversities of formation exist among the an- 
cient or the modern languages of the two continents, on 
first inspection, it will be soon found, that their analogies to 
each other become more and more apparent, the longer we 
continue our investigations; and at last, we become entirely 
satisfied, that they have proceeded from one original and 
common source. I think the labours of the philologists on 
this subject, leave us no room for doubt. The American lan- 
guages do not shew so pointed a resemblance to those of the 

* In languages, as in every thing in nature that is organized, nothing is en- 
tirely isolated or unlike. The farther we penetrate into their internal struc- 
ture, the more do contrasts and decided characters disappear. It might be 
said, that they are like clouds, the outlines of which do not appear well de- 
fined, except when they are viewed from a distance." (Humboldt, Pers. JVar. 
iii. 264.) 

f Mr. Jones in his Greek grammar, has shewn that the personal termina- 
tions of the Greek verbs, are but corruptions of the personal pronouns, and 
all the variations of mood, tense, number, and persons, have originated in 
these six elementary principles: thus 

syw w I. ofxsv we. 

Cu sis tnou « vpeig ers ye. 

ou s< he. outo« ovtfi they. 

See Rees's Cyclopedia; art. Language. It may convey some idea of the dif- 
ficulties, I have had to encounter in my researches, by stating, that I have 
been unable to find a copy of Jones' Greek Grammar, in this city of 70,000 
inhabitants. 



OF THE INDIANS OF AMERICA, 



61 



©astern continent, as these latter do among themselves, and this 
may be explained by several considerations. In the first 
place, the vocabularies of the American languages are ex- 
tremely defective, and do not permit extensive or accurate 
comparisons, and in the second place, the Indians have had 
no intercourse with other nations, as far as we know, since 
the earliest ages of the world. Being thus secluded from 
foreign nations, and their state of society remarkably favora- 
ble for the multiplication of dialects, it may be readily sup- 
posed, that traces of origin remounting to a very remote an- 
tiquity, will be comparatively slight. Yet amid all these 
causes of obscurity, enough has been brought forward in va- 
rious philological researches, to shew, that they have a com- 
mon descent with all other post diluvian nations;* which I 
presume, is the most that can be ever shewn by philology, 
for no investigation, hitherto, has given us the least reason, 
to consider them particularly connected with any one, two, 
or three individual languages, of the eastern continent. 

To this chapter we shall append a few insulated facts, re- 
lating to the general subject, which can only be considered 
of consequence, from thus bringing under one view, every 
circumstance we are acquainted with, respecting the peculi- 
arities of Indian communication. 

The Caraibs, have in a manner two languages common to 
them; one of which is spoken by men, and the other by wo- 
men. This curious anomaly prevails also among the Guay- 
curus, Mbayas, Abipones, and other South American tribes. 
(Southey's Brazil iii. 399, 672 — Azara ii. 106.) Among 
the Natchez of Louisianna, the nobility spoke a language 
partially different from that of the common people. (Du 
Pratz's Louisiana, ii. 170.) 

Humboldt, (Pers. Nar. vi. 20.) explains these singular cir- 
cumstances very satisfactorily, by the supposition, that it 
arises from the well known practice of many Indian nations, 
preserving women captured in war, while the men were 
put to death. The consequence of which practice would be, 

* The late Dr. E. D. Clark, (Trav. in Scandinavia, ix. 391,) states in a note, 
that the Moravian missionaries say, a Laplander may be employed as an in- 
terpreter with the Esquimaux. I should have thought he intended to say a 
Greenlander, might be thus employed. But in vol. x, 26, he says again, 
"There seems good reason for believing that the language of the Laplanders, 
exists under different modifications over the N. W. parts of Russia, Finland, 
Lapland, Greenland, and the coast of Hudson's bay and Labrador, inhabited 
by the people called Esquimaux." 

If this statement be correct, but which I have no means of determining, 
it will entirely destroy the idea that the grammar of the American Indians, 
is in any way peculiar to them. 
9 



62 



ON THE LANGUAGES 



where frequent wars prevailed with an adjacent people, that 
the women on being adopted into the nation, would speak 
their ancient language, and impart it to their children, where- 
as the national pride of the men, would not permit boys or 
young men, to use the language of a conquered foe; and thus 
two languages have been established among these people.* 

In some of the North American languages there were cer- 
tain words used by men, and others by women, for the same 
things, and these it was considered improper to be used by 
the different sexes indiscriminately. 

Acosta relates, "there are some in Mexico that understood 
each other by whistling, which is ordinarily used among lov- 
ers and thieves; a speech truly wonderful which none of our 
men could come to the knowledge thereof." (Purchas. Pil- 
grims, iii. 1 135.) 

For some purposes, the Guaycurus of Brazil can commu- 
nicate by whistling, as well as by words. [Sout key's Brazil, 
iii. 672.) 

I presume, this whistling speech, as Acosta styles it, was 
nothing more than some few signals, which were only intel- 
ligible to the parties interested, and who had previously 
agreed to their signification. 

The Indians in various parts of North America, could un- 
derstand each other to a surprising degree, by means of signs, 
which appear very artificially arranged. Mr. Ellicott in 
decending the Ohio river {Journal, p. 30.) met with a cer- 
tain Philip Nolan, "who, while in our camp, observed a 
number of Indians who were from the western side of the 
Mississippi, he spoke to them in the several languages with 
which he was acquainted, but they could not understand him; 
he then addressed them by signs, to which they immediately 
replied, and conversed for some time with apparent ease and 
satisfaction. Mr. Nolan informed me, that this curious mean 
of intercourse, was used by many nations on the west side of 
the Mississippi." 

A description of the principal signs, in use among these 
Indians, has been published in the Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 
vi. p. 1. 

* Malte Brun (Geog. book, 25,) says, the Circasian princes and nobility 
speak a language peculiar to themselves, which is unintelligible to the com- 
mon people. This we presume is occasioned by causes more or less analo- 
gous to those among the Caraibs. In like manner the Spaniards of Paraguay 
speak a language, compounded of the Spanish and Guarani; the first of which 
is there only understood by the higher classes. (Southey Hist. Brazil, iii. 421.) 
In Quito, Ulloa observed a similar state of things, though not to so great an 
extent. 



OF THE INDIANS OF AMERICA. 



63 



Bossu [Travels, 338,) says, the Attacapas Indians near the 
Bay of St. Bernard, can speak by signs, and hold long pan- 
tomime conversations. 

Heckewelder says, the Indians generally, have a language 
of signs, and can understand each other in this way, when 
they are unable to comprehend each other's speech. 

Lewis and Clark (Exped. i. 445,) observed, that the In- 
dians west of the Rocky mountains, communicated with each 
other by the universal language of signs and gesticulations. 

Charlevoix, (Hist. Paraguay, ii. 389,) shews us the same 
system exists at the southern extremity of America; for he 
says, the Indians of the Pampas, and the natives of Patagonia 
"use a language of signs." 



CHAPTER III 



A VIEW OF THE SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE IN- 
DIANS OF AMERICA 

A characteristic viewof the Indians of America, founded 
upon an extensive examination of their social and moral in- 
stitutions, is fully as interesting as any research upon their 
physical conformation, or structure of their languages; and 
must be from evident reason, a principal mean for investi- 
gating their origin. If they have descended from any na- 
tion of ancient or modern times, they must in a greater or 
less degree, continue to resemble the nation, or nations, 
from whom they have sprung; unless indeed, the era of 
their origin belongs to those remote ages, in which the his- 
tory of all nations lies involved in a common obscurity. 

The plan upon which we shall proceed in this part of our 
researches, will be; first, to give a correct view of the Ame- 
rican Indians in their moral and social state; and secondly, 
to produce analogous matters from the history of various na- 
tions of the eastern continent, as far as may be deemed ne- 
cessary. 

In attempting to describe the manners and institutions of 
the Indians, we shall not adopt those loose and general de- 
scriptions, that have been hitherto published on this subject. 
But we will endeavour, as far as we are able, to convey 
a correct idea of what they really were; which will neces- 
sarily require more or less detail, of whatever was peculiar 
to their aboriginal condition. 

What would any one think of a view of European or An- 
glo-American society, which would be so general, as not to 
detail the leading features of their government and religion, 
the tremendous machinery of their wars, or the importance 
and variety of their mechanical arts? Who could appreciate 
the state of their social institutions, unless a certain degree 
of information was given upon these subjects. Yet thus 
genera], have been for the most part, the views given of the 
Aborigines of America. Little or nothing has been detailed, 
and of that little, we frequently find, that insignificant mat- 
ters have been made important, and local customs have been 
assumed as pertaining to the whole continent: Or else, the 



INSTITUTIONS OF THE INDIANS OF AMERICAN, 65 



subject has been treated in that oratorical and declamatory 
manner, that though we may be pleased with the eloquence 
of the narration, we receive no correct ideas of what the In- 
dians really were; or in what respects they resemble, or in 
what they differ, from the other branches of the human fa- 
mily. 

We do not propose giving a detailed account of every 
thing belonging to the Indian life; for it would not only be 
tedious, but unnecessary, when not furnishing matter cha- 
racteristic of their social state. But while we avoid puerile 
and impertinent details, nothing should be wanting to give 
the general character of the people, upon whom we are wri- 
ting. With that of the American Indians we believe most 
readers are already familiar, from the general descriptions 
given by different travellers. Nevertheless, it may not be 
amiss to observe in these prefatory remarks; that the savage 
or hunter state of society, being the simplest in its nature, 
and having the fewest wants, necessarily produces great uni- 
formity of character, in every part of the world. To pro- 
vide sufficient food, raiment, and shelter, are undoubtedly 
the chief, if not the only consideration of savage existence ; 
and in pursuit of these objects, life itself is spent. Intel- 
lectual or moral considerations are seldom called into action, 
and when excited are of the grossest kind. The weakness 
of human nature inclines them to bear the yoke of supersti- 
tion; and a natural resentment of injury, or the stimulus of 
pride, excites them to war. At such times, the social prin- 
ciple is called into action, and prevents the national ties 
from being completely broken. To this feeble sense of 
mutual dependence, must be attributed their ideas of law 
and government; in which by a tacit acquiescence, the most 
elderly or experienced men of the tribe acquire a certain 
political character, resembling the legislative department of 
regular governments; the other corresponding parts of 
which, are scarcely discernible. Such, in brief, was the ge- 
neral state of society in America, prior to its discovery by 
Columbus, and such may readily be acknowledged, is the ge- 
neral state of all savage nations, wherever they may be 
found. The illustration of this fact, for general readers, 
offers little instruction or amusement, but to the antiquarian 
or philosopher, certain details even on these subjects are ne- 
cessary, in elucidating their particular researches on the na- 
tural or moral history of man. 

Without entering, therefore, into uninteresting details of 
habits and manners, universal among all savages, and which 



66 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



depend upon the necessities of human life; our chief object 
will be: to give not only a correct picture in more general 
terms, but to exhibit in stronger lights, those particular cus- 
toms or usages, that may be considered as giving character to 
the piece; and which indeed constitute the points, upon which 
affinity to other nations may be proved, or affiliation be de- 
nied. 

With respect to the analogies to be brought forward from 
the history of other nations foreign to America, and which 
may be supposed in a greater or less degree, to resemble those 
of our Indians; we propose introducing them in that manner, 
which will be least tedious and impertinent. Upon those 
features of resemblance which characterize human nature, 
nothing need be said. But upon those that are artificial, or 
more or less abstract in their nature, it becomes interesting 
to see the resemblances such as they are, that exist between 
people so widely separated from each other, whether we con- 
sider such things to have arisen from a natural sense of expe- 
diency or policy, or whether we regard them, as proving an 
ancient descent, from the common progenitors of the human 
race. 

It has become rather common of late, to undervalue com- 
parisons of nations with nations, according to their habits and 
manners; not simply, because writers have been injudicious 
in their analogical researches, and in the theories, they may 
have deduced from such resemblances, but also from the cir- 
cumstance, that the generality of readers, consider the cus- 
toms, manners, and institutions of nations, to be of a change- 
able and varying character; frequently assuming new and 
often very different aspects. Though we do not pretend to 
say that this is not partly true, we consider it very incorrect 
as a general assertion; and with some confidence appeal to all 
persons accustomed to antiquarian researches, whether there 
be much of important difference in the habits, manners, and 
institutions of nations, during the periods of many revolving 
ages. Among highly civilized nations, matters of taste and 
fashion, are perpetually modified or changed; the first princi- 
ples however are little affected, and even the practice or fash- 
ion, after a departure of many years, again treads in the steps, 
and assumes the guise, that characterized the days of our 
grandfathers, or their progenitors. But matters of a grave 
or sober kind do not thus change; they pass along the stream 
of time unaltered; generation after generation possess them, 
and hand them down to a posterity, who identifying them 
with their own personal feelings, are ignorant of the antiqui- 



OF THE INDIANS OP AMERICA. 



0? 



iy of habits, manners, customs, and superstitions, that re- 
mount to the first origin of our race. 

How much of astronomy in use among us, is of the most 
ancient discovery? In the sublime language of Bailly, "if 
we look at the heavens, ancient history is there written, an- 
cient fable is there portrayed, the very gods of antiquity still 
maintain their empire there." What history commemorates 
the first division of the heavens into constellations, under 
those appellations by which we, and the most ancient nations 
of the earth have known them? Who first propagated the 
doctrine of the "skyey influences," which after having pass- 
ed through the hands of Chaldeans, Magi, and Brachmans, 
are yet stamped on our almanacks, for the superstitious guid- 
ance of our common people?* 

The names of our days, have continued long since the 
gods to whom they were consecrated have been abandoned, 
but the Sun's day, the Moon's day, and Thor's day, &c. yet 
shew forth the superstitions of our ancient pagan forefathers 
of Germanic blood ; while our months, retain the names given 
them by the ancient Etruscans, or more modern Romans. 

How many pagan superstitions have been preserved in the 
bosom of our christian churches, where we should least ex- 
pect to find them. Yet the priest performs his duties in the 
dress of a Roman gentleman. t The almost sacrilegious an- 
tiquarian, shews, that the ancient fires of Baal, are now kind- 
led to the honor of St. John.J The cakes, that the prophet 
Jeremiah mourned to see made for the queen of heaven, are 
now made to honor St. Bridget:§ and the suppositious frank- 
incense of Horace, that melted without fire, now liquifies to 
honor saint Januarius. Ceres, under the name of the Har- 
vest Queen, || is yet drawn in procession by christian hands 
in the rural parts of England; the dance in honor of Priapus, 
is yet performed unsuspectingly around the May pole, IF the 
semi-annual revellings of our Scandinavian or German an- 
cestors, are yet continued under the modern names of Christ- 
mas, and Easter; and the fooleries of the Saturnalia and Lu- 

* It is not without some indignation, that I mention an Almanack printed 
„ A. D. 1829, for the use of the Farmers of Pennsylvania and Maryland; con- 
staining the days of the year, arranged according to the old style! that this in- 
flexible class of men, may plant and sow, on the same days as their great 
grandfathers had done. 

t Transl. Roman Missal, by Bishop England, xvi. 

+ Collec1anea Reb. Hibern. ii. 64. 65. 

§ Ibid. 290. 

|| Clark's Travels in Egypt, Syria, &c. ii. 139, 
IF Maurice Ind. Antiq. vi. 87. 94. 



•V- 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



percalia, are yet repeated on twelfth-day r , and on the festi- 
val of St. Valentine.* 

The misletoe, is still in various parts of England, hung up 
in houses on Christmas eve; and fortunes divined by burning 
its leaves on twelfth night, t the very time the Druids an- 
ciently collected this plant. The superstitious natives of the 
Hebrides, and other parts of Great Britain, still walk from 
left to right around their druidical cairns, as their forefathers 
did long before the days of Cj^sar and Agricola. 

If we turn to law and politics, we find some of their most 
important features, involved in the earliest history of the 
German barbarians; and the Roman law, yet forms the basis 
of legal proceeding over the principal part of Europe. 

Travellers in our day in the East, shew, that nearly the 
same habits, manners, and customs, yet exist in those coun- 
tries where Abraham or Ishmael lived, or where Cyrus 
reigned; and the explanatory notes of our Bible, abound 
with extracts from recent travellers, explaining even modes 
of salutation, and terms of speech, made use of in the days 
of the patriarchs. Well may we say, as was said three 
thousand years ago by Solomon, "is there any thing whereof 
it may be said, see, this is new: it hath been already of old 
time, which was before us." 

Without going further into these details of matters foreign 
to our work, we presume the reader is satisfied, that after 
making all allowances for modern improvements and changes, 
it will still be found, that a surprising number of usages, 
customs, and superstitions, of the earliest ages of the world, 
are in use among us at this very time, and are yet in fashion. 

If such be the case among civilized nations, who change 
the most; should we not consider the usages and supersti- 
tions of ruder people, more permanent, and equally ancient? 
They are in fact incorporated into the very existence of 
their societies, nor can we see, how changes of any impor- 
tance, could arise among them. 

It is proper to observe, that in bringing forward customs and 
manners of other nations, analogous to those of the American 
Indians, we are not to be considered as having any other view 
in so doing, than to discover a general truth. We leave it to 
the reader to determine, whether such things are to be consider- 

* Hone's Every Day Book, ii. 58, 222. To what an extent St. Valentine's day 
is observed in London, may be estimated by the statement of this author, 
who relates, "two hundred thousand letters beyond the usual daily average, 
pass through the two-penny post offices in London on this day." 

t Mallet's North. Antiq ii note 146. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



69 



ed as analogies, or mere resemblances only. We think we 
shall do right, to remark them as they occur; and in thus col- 
lecting analogies from all nations, whose histories or descrip- 
tions are within our reach, this good will result, that we shall 
be enabled to judge more correctly, as to the exactness of any 
resemblance of our Indians, to any nation of the eastern con- 
tinent. And if we are unable to shew their particular origin, 
much is gained even by the negative proof of shewing what 
they are not. 

Proceeding then upon the assumption, that the Indian 
tribes of America throughout its extent, bore a general re- 
semblance to one another in the state of their societies, and 
with few exceptions; we shall for our convenience, divide 
their social history into two unequal divisions, one relating 
to the savage or barbarous tribes, and the other concerning 
those whom we may call demi-civilized. 

The savage proportion of the two Americas is very great, 
for it embraces nearly the whole continent. Those whom 
we consider half civilized, were only the Natchez and Flo- 
ridians, of the United States; the Mexicans, the Peruvians, 
and the Muyscas, a mountain people of Colombia. All other 
parts of America were in the possession of barbarous nations, 
differing little from each other, except as climate, or a pecu- 
liar topography, varied the general resemblance. 

We shall notice whatever is thought worthy of observa- 
tion among the savage tribes, under the following heads. 
Their habits, manufactures, government, laws, religion, and 
wars. 

Of the demi-civilized tribes, more particular descriptions 
will be given, and we shall treat of each in separate chapters. 

On the Habitations of the Barbarous American Tribes. 

The greater part of the savage American tribes, can scarce- 
ly be said to have had any fixed residence; for, from their 
great improvidence, they were continually obliged to remove 
to those districts or shores, which fish, or other animals, 
guided by their instincts, selected for pasture, or the purpose 
of spawning. Hence at one time, the Indians are found 
along the shores of seas and rivers, in search of fish or testa- 
ceous animals; and at another season, they are pursuing deer, 
buflaloe, and other quadrupeds, into the forests and moun- 
tains; without local attachment to any particular soil or shore, 
though circumscribed by what were considered the bounda- 
10 



70 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



ries of the national territory.* Some tribes, under a warm 
and genial sky, were less erratic, because a liberal soil pro- 
ducing either spontaneously, or with the least degree of cul- 
tivation, a variety of fruits or roots, the calls on their enter- 
prize and activity were less frequent, and that sloth, so 
grateful to all savages, was more abundantly indulged. 

The greater or less difficulty they find in procuring sub- 
sistence, therefore modifies essentially their habits, and when 
not absolutely controlled by climate, these circumstances de- 
termine the character of their dwellings, whether they are 
to be of the slightest materials, or of more durable construc- 
tion. The more fixed they are to one locality, the more 
commodious are their houses, and the greater is their atten- 
tion to agriculture, and the mechanic arts. 

Generally speaking, the houses of the savage tribes, were 
built by first fixing a number of saplins in the earth around 
a space of sufficient size, and bending their tops over to the 
opposite sides, where they were tied together; as is done in 
constructing our summer arbours. This frame was then cov- 
ered over with pieces of bark or coarse mats, sometimes 
plastered with clay, and with repeated coverings was made 
sufficiently tight and warm. In the centre of the roof, a hole 
was made to let out the smoke of the fire, which was kind- 
led in the middle of the floor. An aperture was left in the 
side of the hut for a door, which was occasionally closed by 
a mat or large skin; though, as they left no opening as a win- 
dow, the door answered a two-fold purpose in this particular. 

A village, consisted of a greater or less number of such 
buildings, collected together in a loose disorderly manner; 
and is thus described with great accuracy by Charlevoix. 
{Travels in Canada, 240.) "Imagine you see a heap of ca- 
bins without order or being set on a line, some like cart 
houses, others like tunnels, built of bark, supported by posts, 
sometimes plastered on the outside with mud in a coarse 
manner: in a word built with less art, neatness and solidity, 
than the cabins of the beavers. 5 ' j] 

Some tribes used tents, made by erecting a number of long 
poles tied together at one end, and then opening or separat- 
ing the lower ends over a circular space of ground. Upon 
these poles they fastened mats or skins sewed together as a 
covering, leaving openings for the escape of smoke, and for 

*Thus it happens, says Charlevoix, when speaking of the Sioux, "that a 
village which was last year on the east side of the Mississippi, shall next 
year be on the west side, and that those who were at one lime by the river 
St. Peters, are perhaps now far enough from it in some meadow." 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



71 



the entrance as observed above in the construction of the 
huts. These tents were chiefly used among the North Ame- 
rican tribes, and especially west of the Mississippi. The 
Mbayas and Guaycurus of Brazil, (Southey's Braz. iii. 386, 
664.) also used tents covered with coarse mats. 

In the tropical and warmer parts of the continent, their 
huts were made after a similar fashion to those just described, 
though with little attention to any comfort but protection 
from rain. 

In the more inclement regions of the north, some tribes, 
as those of Oonelaska, &c. lived during the winter in caves 
under ground, and in the summer, in various temporary 
lodges. The Esquimaux built themselves vaulted habita- 
tions from frozen snow, cut into large parallelopipeds, which 
were laid in a regular manner like mason work, each layer 
projecting a little inward of the previous layer, until the 
whole terminated in a regular vault. In the summer time 
they lived in tents. Venegas [Hist. Calif orn. i. 77) says, 
some of the Californian Indians in the winter time, lived in 
caves made in the sides of the mountains. 

The only South American tribes that lived in caves, ac- 
cording to my knowledge, were the Machicuys and the Na- 
licuegas of Paraguay, who are noticed for this peculiarity by 
Azara, ii. 77. 155. 

In certain parts of South America, where the country was 
liable to extensive inundations, many tribes fixed their hab- 
itations on trees, above the usual height of the overflowing 
waters. Columbus described certain Indians living in this 
manner on the coast of Veragua, the reason of which he was 
unable to conjecture. The mouths of the Orinoco are also 
thus inhabited according to Gumilla, {Hist. Orin. i. 226.) 
and Balboa on the shores of the Isthmus of Darien, observed 
the same thing. (Herrera, ii. 20.) 

Such in general, were the habitations and modes of living, 
among the more wandering and unsettled tribes. But there 
were others who lived in situations either where subsistence 
was more easily procured, or who derived a greater propor- 
tion of their food from agriculture. Such tribes had even com- 
fortable habitations, framed of good substantial materials. 
This may be considered generally the case, with those who 
lived chiefly on fish and other aquatic productions. The 
reader of Mackenzie's Voyages, or Lewis and Clark's Travels, 
cannot but be struck with this fact, for after describing the 
rude houses or tents of the Indians between the Atlantic 
ocean and the Rocky mountains, we find them on descend- 



14 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



ing the waters flowing from their western slopes, frequently 
expressing surprise at the superior construction, and commo- 
diousness of the houses of those tribes, who feed chiefly on 
salmon and other fish. Lewis and Clark have described some 
of those dwellings of very considerable dimensions, in which 
several families resided. Near the mouth of the Multnomah 
river, they speak of one, two hundred and twenty-six feet 
long: entirely above ground, under one roof, and divid- 
ed into seven apartments, each thirty feet square. {Lewis and 
Clark ii. 220. 237.) In another instance, they observed one of 
one hundred and sixty feet long, by forty in breadth. 

The art of the carpenter seems to have been in these parts 
of the north west coast, in much greater perfection than any 
wherc else in the savage districts of America. The travellers 
above mentioned, speak of wooden temples, and contrivances 
to catch fish, that must have been framed with, great labour 
and exertion; and they, as well as navigators along these sea 
coasts, describe the natives as making with their rude tools 
of stone or bone, plank for houses and other purposes. Capt. 
Portlock speaks of plank, made by the natives of Portlock 
harbour, with their "shocking tools," ten feet long, two and a 
half broad, and not more than one inch thick. In another part 
of his voyage, he speaks of plank, twenty or twenty-five feet 
in length, made in the same manner. {Portlock's Voy. 253. 
292.) 

Capt. Cook says, the houses at Nootka Sound, {Voy. N. 
H. ii. 314,) are built of very long and broad plank. 

Marchand speaks with surprise, of the architecture of 
these people, and gives us accounts that are really extraordi- 
nary. He observes, ( Voy. i. 500,) "We found houses with 
two stories, (one however is under ground,) fifty feet in 
length, thirty-five in breadth, and twelve or fifteen in height; 
each habitation with a portal, that occupies the whole eleva- 
tion of the fore front, surmounted with wooden statues, 
erect, and ornamented on its jambs, with carved figures of 
birds, fishes, and other animals." {See also Vol. i. 402, 404, 
418, &c.) 

Some of the houses at Nootka Sound, are very remarka- 
ble from the enormous size of the materials used in their 
construction. The following extract from Vancouver, ( Voy. 
iii. 310,) is not only interesting in its description, but 
will be a matter of future reference from another part of 
our work. 

"On the house of Maquinna, (at Nootka,) were three im- 
mense spars; the middle piece was the largest, and measured 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES* 



n 



at the but end nearly five feet in diameter; this extended 
the whole length of the habitation, which was about one 
hundred feet long. It was placed on wooden pillars. That 
which supported it within the upper end of the house, was 
about fifteen feet in circumference. One or more houses in 
many of the deserted villages, as well as in most of the in- 
habited ones we had visited, were thus distinguished." 

Mears {Voy. i. 223,) is less explicit in his description, but 
says, that some of the rafters of nouses on this coast, would 
render the mast of a first rate ship diminutive. 

Except in the particulars we have enumerated, there does 
not appear to be any thing which distinguishes the natives 
of this coast, from their savage brethren east of the Rocky 
mountains; though in such works, they surpass all other 
tribes in North America, excepting the Natchez, and Mexi- 
cans, who were demicivilized people; and of whom we 
shall treat in subsequent chapters. 

In South America, we again meet with more sedentary 
savage tribes, who lived in houses of great extent, contain- 
ing a number of families under one common roof. 

On the coast of Venezuela, {Herrera, i. 216,) the natives 
built houses that contained above one hundred and fifty 
persons. 

The Tupinambas of Brazil, {Southey, Hist. Braz. i. 185,) 
lived in houses one hundred and fifty feet in length, by 
fourteen in breadth, and twelve feet high, well thatched 
with palm leaves. Six or seven such houses constituted a 
town, and were built so as to enclose an area for general use 
and convenience. 

Purchas [Pilgrims, iv. 1226,) says, some of these houses 
were two hundred yards in length. 

The Guaycurus of Paraguay, {Southey, Braz. i. 121,) had 
similar habitations, capable of holding several hundred people. 

Certain nations foreign to America, lived in houses equally 
extensive with those just noticed. At Easter island, La 
Peyrouse, {Voyages, iii. 194,) describes one, in the shape 
of a canoe turned bottom up, which measured three hundred 
and ten feet in length, by ten feet in breadth, and ten high 
in the middle, but tapering to the ends to three or four feet. 

At Otaheite, were houses two hundred feet in length, and 
thirty broad, and at Savu, near Timor, were, some, four 
hundred feet in length. {Hawksworth, Voy. ii. 213, iii. 
312.) 

The inhabitants of the Garrow Hills, {As. Res. iii. 18, 23,) 
have some houses that measure one hundred and fifty feet 
long by forty broad. 



74 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



These instances are altogether referrible to that state of 
society, which either for purposes of security, or from the 
comparative ease with which subsistence is procured, has 
fixed the inhabitants to a particular soil, the consequences of 
which may be appreciated in a variety of other matters also 
depending upon sedentary habits, of which the most impor- 
tant perhaps is agriculture. 

Of the Agriculture and Subsistence of the Barbarous In- 
dians of America. 

The Indians of North America, consumed but an uncer- 
tain proportion of food derived from agricultural labour. 
They added, it is true, to the various kinds of animal food, 
which may be considered their chief support, fruits, berries, 
nuts and roots of spontaneous growth; but the vegetable 
substances raised by their own industry, constituted but a 
small part of their subsistence. In making these remarks, 
however, it must be understood, that we are speaking of the 
more barbarous tribes; for those Indians who lived under a 
more regular form of government, constituting a half civi- 
lized state of society, it would seem, lived chiefly upon 
vegetables. But these particulars we shall notice under the 
different chapters, that treat of such people. v\The savages 
of South America were much more agricultural in their ha- 
bits, than those of the North. ^\ 

The nature of their diet, was much influenced by climate; 
for whilst the northern Indians sometimes eat the inner bark 
of certain pine trees, and that moss, (tripe of the rock,) 
which necessity alone has termed edible, those of the south 
lived on cocoa nuts, plantains, bananas, and other fruits, 
which nature spontaneously produced in regular succession. 
We do not purpose, however, to enumerate the indigenous 
fruits or roots of the continent, any further than as they 
were raised, and cultivated, by the Indians for their subsis- 
tence. 

The plant most extensively cultivated, was the Indian 
corn, (Zea mays,) which was raised universally throughout 
America, from the borders of the Arctic regions of the 
north, to Patagonia in the south. 
II The next plant, in point of extensive cultivation, was the 
mandioc, yucca, or cassava.* (Jatropa, of several species.) 

* Cassava properly means the bread made of the mandioc root, though it is 
now used as a synonyme. 

Tapioca is a preparation from this root, which has been derived, as well 
as its name, from the savages of Brazil. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES, 



This root was for the most part, first grated or scraped 
into a pulp, from which the juice was carefully expressed, 
and then baked into breads As this root is poisonous with- 
out such a preparation, it is a curious matter, to comprehend 
how its use has prevailed to such a considerable degree 
among so many rude tribes. 

The cultivation of the cassava, prevailed in Paraguay, 
Brazil, Cumana, and the West India islands; in fine, in all 
that immense country east of the Andes, to the shores of the 
Atlantic ocean. It scarcely appears to have been raised in 
the mountainous parts of the now republic of Colombia, nor 
in Mexico, though the sweet species, according to Clavigero, 
grew in this last kingdom, where it was eaten after being 
simply boiled, it not being poisonous. But it does not ap- 
pear to me, that the Mexicans cultivated it, nor any other 
people to the northward of them, though Herrera, v. 284, 
and Venegas, i. 44, describe it as used for food in California, 
under its name yucca, and Jefferson inserts it in his list of 
plants indigenous to Virginia. 

The inhabitants of the West India islands, who undoubt- 
edly were descendants of the Arrowacks and Caraibs of 
Guayana, and Brazil, carried this plant and the manner of 
preparing it for bread, throughout all those islands. 

Nothing but great inattention could have referred the in- 
troduction of the cassava, to the importation of negroes 
from Africa. Peter Martyr describes it as being cultivated 
in Hayti, when Columbus first discovered that island, and 
Cabral observed it in Brazil, when he first landed on that 
coast, in A. D. 1500. Pigafetta, and all the earlier travel- 
lers, describe it as being extensively cultivated in Brazil, 
Paraguay, &c. 

w The Indians of both North and South America, cultivated 
also several different kinds of beans and peas, and several spe- 
cies of cucurbita, such as pumpkins, squashes, cymlins, 
water-mellons, &c. The sun flower, (Helianthus,) was also 
partially cultivated for its seed, which were eaten after being 
parched, and beat into a meal between two stones. As far 
north as Maryland, they raised the sweet potato. (Con- 
volvulus batatus. ) 

Columbus found pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes, and 
ms, (Dioscorea,) in the West India islands.\ They were 
also cultivated in Mexico, and in various parts of South 
America, though it is perhaps impossible to assign their li- 
mits. 



76 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



In Mexico, the natives cultivated other plants and roots of 
a circumscribed use, which will be noticed generally, when 
treating of that people. \\ They also raised certain vegetable 
condiments, as peppers, (capsicum,) tomatoes, (solanum,) 
&c. ; which mark the superiority of their social condition. ^ 

In the mountains of New Grenada, now the republic of 
Colombia, in Peru, and Chili, certain tribes cultivated the 
quinoa, a species of chenopodium, which is denominated 
by the older travellers in those countries, rice, or Peruvian 
rice. 

^ The common potato, (solanum tuberosum,) was cultivated, 
according to Humboldt, {Pol. Essay, ii. 345,) at the time 
of the discovery, in New Grenada, Quito, Peru and Chili; 
on all the Cordillera of the Andes, from the 40° of south to 
the 5° north latitude.* It seems certain, that it was not 
known in Mexico, before the conquest of Cortez. A 

In Chili according to Molina, {Hist. Chili, i. 90,) two 
species of grain were cultivated by the natives, under the 
names of magu and tucca. (Herrera, v. 73, says teca,) 
from which bread was made. One of these plants according 
to him, was a species of rye, and the other of barley. 

* Though it is a common tradition, that potatoes were indigenous in Vir- 
ginia, or rather North Carolina, and that Sir Waiter Raleigh carried them 
from thence to England^the opinion most prevalent among the learned is, 
that Sir Walter, received ihem from South America in the first instance. 
The roots called openauk, which are described by Herriot, (Flackluyt, iii. 
273,) agree however in description with potatoes; for he says, "they are 
a kind of roots of round form, some of the bigness of walnuts, some far 
greater, which are found in moist and marshy grounds, growing many to- 
gether one by another in ropes, as though they were fastened by a string." 
But from various other descriptions given by travellers in other parts, it 
seems to me that some plant with tuberous roots, other than potatoes, may 
be meant. Thus in Purchas, (Pilgrims, iv. 1651,) it is said, that at Elizabeths 
islands, (near Nantucket,) "there are great store of ground nuts, forty to- 
gether on a string, some of them as big as hens eggs, they grow not two 
inches underground, the which nuts we found to be as good as potatoes." 
Now, in this last description the resemblance to potatoes, is as striking as 
that of the openauk, and yet they were not potatoes, for they are compared 
to them. Kalm, (Travels, i, 385,) also says, the roots of the hopnis or hap- 
nis, (Glycene,) resemble potatoes, and were boiled by the Indians for food. 

We have been once or twice nearly misled, by the vague descriptions of 
some modern travellers in their mention of certain plants, as to suppose the 
potato (solanum,) indigenous to North America. Adair relates that ^"a 
sort of wild potato grows plentifully in the low lands from South Carolina 
to the Mississippi." But as the Solanum has not been observed by any bota- 
nist in those regions, and as Romans, (Hist. Florida, S4,) says "a species of 
convolvulus, with a tuberous root, is found in the low cane grounds of Flori- 
da," I presume it to be the potato of Adair. 

Lewis and Clark, (Exped. Rocky Mountains, i. 24,) also mention "a kind of 
wild potato," growing on the banks of the Missouri river. This we consi- 
der was the Psoralea esculcnta, (of Nutlal,) which is frequently mentioned in 
the narrative of Long's Expedition to the Rocky mountains- 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES 



77 



The plantain, and various other fruits, were no doubt oc- 
casionally planted by the barbarous tribes; but generally 
speaking, they appear to have paid very little attention to 
their cultivation. \\The Mexicans, in addition to such fruits, 
. raised also the cocoa, (Theobroma) pimento, (Myrtus,) &c.V 
Tobacco, (Nicotiana) probably of several different kinds, as 
well as some other narcotic plants, were raised from Canada to 
Patagonia, for the purposes of smoking or snuffing.' In the 
W. India islands, Mexico, and all over South America, cotton 
was cultivated as a material for the manufacture of clothing, 
' The Chippeways, and other northern Indians, manufac- 
tured in large quantities, sugar or syrup from the sugar 
maple, (Acer Sacharinum,) as it grew in the forests. $ 
f\ Some of the more northern Indians, who had not the sugar 
maple, made a kind of coarse sugar from the birch tree; 
( Dobfrs Hudson Bay, 42.) which they used with their meat, ' J 
In Mexico, sugar was manufactured from the maize stalksA 
In this section, we shall also introduce, the few observations 
we have to make upon the subject of animal food, for as the 
Indians eat flesh, fish, fowl, and insects, it would be unneces- 
sary to more than mention the anomalies of their diet 
Throughout all North America, excepting the Natchez and 
Mexicans, I believe there were but few instances of the In= 
dians domesticating animals for food. In the West India 
islands, Columbus found parrots, ducks, and the alco, an ani- 
mal something resembling a dog, domesticated by the natives, 
(Pink. Jim. Voy. ii. 93; Edward's W. Indies,!, 95; Hum 
boldi's Pers. Nar. v. 162.) 

The natives of Paraguay and Brazil, partially domestica- 
ted ducks, parrots, and monkeys, for food, (Southey's Bra- 
zil, i. 107. 127, &c. 

The Brazilian tribes, also, were very generally cannibals, 
and it was one of the most inveterate practices the mission- 
aries had to overcome. Azara undertakes to deny this, but 
nothing is more clear by the narration of all the earlier tra- 
vellers. It is not unreasonable to suppose, that the habit of 
eating monkeys, which was general among them, tended to 
render this practice less abhorrent 

Cannibalism cannot be charged to any Indians of America 
but those living in the countries watered by the Orinoco and 
Amazon rivers, or to their descendants inhabiting the West 
India islands= If such practices occurred elsewhere, they 
were both rare and under restricted circumstances- But in 
Brazil) Sic. they actually feasted on the human body 
11 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



In preserving animal food, the South American Indians, 
cut the meat into thin slices, which they dried by the heat 
and smoke of fires, kindled under the wooden grate or frame 
upon which the meat was laid. This grate they called bou= 
can.* This mode of curing beef, is extensively used in South 
America at the present time, and is called jerking the beef, 
The pemican of the northern Indians, is made in a similar 
way, though fire is not always used in the preparation. Fish 
was also dried and prepared in a similar manner, among the 
South Americans. (Humboldt, Pers. Nci7\ v. 547.) 

In all these instances, the meats were prepared without 
salt; nor do I know but of one region, in which the Indians 
preserved their meats with that substance; this was among 
the demi-civilized Muyscas, (Herrera, v. 77,) and on the 
coast near Carthagena, &c. (Hackluyt, W. Indies, 62, 122, 
270.) 

It has been long known, that some of the South American 
tribes, during those seasons of the year, in which nutriment 
is procured with difficulty, in addition to their scanty diet, 
eat, or rather swallow, a quantity of clay, which has been 
slightly roasted over a fire. This practice, however extra- 
ordinary it may seem, is much more general than one would 
be apt to imagine. 

Baron Humboldt [Pers. Nar. v. 639,) has written exten- 
sively upon this custom, and shews it to have been practiced 
in various parts of the world, as among the negroes of the 
coast of Guinea, in the island of Java, New Caledonia, and 
even in certain parts of Germany. To these instances, we 
add that some of the savages of Florida, according to Robert- 
son, (Hist. America, ii. 452,) are reported to have eaten a 
kind of unctuous earth; and Malte Brun (Geog. book 37,) 
says, the Tungusians, eat a soft and almost fluid clay, either 
by itself or with milk, without suffering inconvenience from 
it: they call it rock butter. 

As it seems impossible, that the human system can derive 
any nourishment from such substances, it is most reasonable 
to suppose, that the effect produced is merely mechanical, 
and removes the sensation of hunger, either by that of full- 
ness, or by some action on the gastric juices. 

After these instances, it would be reasonable to suppose, 
that the American Indians would eat any thing that might 
be converted into nutriment, and so they certainly did, 
speaking generally; yet in various instances, different kinds 

* The Buccaneers so famous in the history of Spanish America^ derived 
that appellation from their habit of thus preparing meat. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES, 



4 

79 



of animals were rejected by them as improper food. Thus 
Rochefort says, the Caraibs held in abhorrence the flesh of 
the pecary, manati, and the turtle. {Edwards'' TV. Indies, i. 
146.) A curious inconsistency among a nation of cannibals! 

The Kaluschians, (North "West coast of America,) who eat 
sea dogs, cuttle fish, sea weeds, and train oil, will not eat the 
fat of the whale, which according to Langsdorff, (Voyages, 
411,) "seems from some prejudice to be forbidden them; for 
they shew the same kind of horror at it, that a Jew does at 
the idea of eating swine's flesh." 

Perhaps these inconsistencies are explained, by the reasons 
which the Abipones of Brazil assign for a similar prohibition 
of certain kinds of animal food; namely, that their courage 
was influenced by their diet. * They therefore preferred the 
rank flesh of the jaguar, and avoided mutton; they would eat 
the wild boar, but they considered the tame hog an abomina- 
tion. The Chiriguannas, would not eat the vicuna, for fear 
they would grow woolly. (Southey's Hist. Brazil, iii. 
165, 412.) 

Similar inconsistencies, have also prevailed among other 
nations than the Americans. Caesar, (Bel. Gal. lib. 5, 
chap, x.) says, that the Britons, "thought it unlawful to eat 
hares, pullets, or geese; though they bred these animals for 
diversion." 

Mariner (Jicct. Tonga Ids. 342,) observes, the natives of 
the Friendly islands consider the turtle a prohibited food, on 
account of a tradition held among them. 

It is not improbable, that distinctions between animals for 
purposes of food, have prevailed more or less with all na- 
tions. The Jews were very particularly instructed upon this 
point; yet it is evident, the distinction of clean, and unclean 
animals, existed before the flood; for Noah is distinctly stated 
to have received the two classes into the ark, in very differ- 
ent proportions. (Genesis, chap. 1, verses 2 and 8.) 

Garciiazo (Royal Commentaries, 315,) says, that the 
Pastous, a nation of the Peruvian empire, though "vile and 
sordid," eat no kind of flesh, saying they were not dogs. I 
believe they were the only people of America distinguished 
by this peculiarity. 

*In Long's Exped. Rocky mountains, i. 325, &c. is a long list of prohibited 
articles of food, among the different bands of the Omawhaw nation. In 
these instances, the prohibition seems to arise exclusively from superstitious 
notions. 



so 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



Of the Clothing, and other manufactures, of the Bar- 
barous Indians. 

The nature of the clothing used by the Indians, depended 
upon climate. In the northern parts of the continent, and in 
the extreme south, they covered themselves chiefly with furs 
and skins, while in the warm and tropical regions, they went 
either nearly naked, or wore garments manufactured from 
cotton, or from the fibrous barks of many different plants.* 

The Esquimaux, in addition to the warm clothing that 
their rigorous climate required, had to provide also against 
the effects of water, to which their occupation as fishermen, 
continually exposed them. This was effected either directly 
or indirectly by means of the train oil, with which their seal 
skin dresses were continually smeared. 

In the more temperate regions of iVmerica, the natives 
made their inner garments of a kind of shammy leather, 
which was manufactured, after removing the hair, by rubbing 
the skin for some time with the brains of animals, and fre- 
quent smoking over the fire, u 

They also manufactured a coarse kind of cloth from the 
wild hemp, or other plants with fibrous bark. Kalm (Trav- 
els, i. 413,) observed on his journey among the Six nations, 
"the squaws making a stuff, or cloth, from the apocynum ca~ 
nabinum.* They had no distaff, but rolled the filaments up- 
on their naked thighs, and made strings of them, which they 
died of various colours, and worked into stuffs very ingeni- 
ously." The Indians of Virginia, made a similar fabric , 
(Purchas. iv. 1699.) 

Smith describes the Virginia Indians, as frequently wear- 
ing mantles in the winter season made of feathers, "so pret- 
tily wrought and woven with threads, that nothing could be 
discerned but the feathers." (Purchas, iv. 1698.) Heeke- 
welder (Hist, and Lit. Trans. 194,) describes the Dela 
wares, making a similar manufacture, and Langsdorf, ( Voy. 
439,) mentions the same kind of mantle as being used in 
California. 

Among certain tribes of the North West coaet, they man- 
ufactured a coarse kind of vegetable cloth, probably like that 
noticed by Kalm as above quoted, and besides these made 
others of wool or hair, manufactured probably after a similar 
process;; The following description given by Capt. Cook, 

* Of this plant, the northern Indians also made fishing nets, pouches, &c. 
It has been used as a substitute for flax by the whites. (Kalm, I 103. Hut- 
chinson's Hist, Mass. i 414 ) 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES 



81 



(Voy. N. Han, ii. 325,) we deem sufficiently characteristic; 
to extract in his own words; 
$ I "The hempen garments of the people at Nootka, are made 
of the hark of a species of pine tree, beat into a hempen 
state; it is not spun, hut after being properly prepared, is 
spread upon a stick which is fastened across two others, that 
stand upright. The manufacturer knots this bark across 
with small plaited threads, at the distance of half an inch 
from each other. Though by this method, it be not so 
close or firm as cloth that is woven, yet the bunches between 
the knots make it sufficiently impervious to the air, by fil- 
ling up the interstices, and it has the additional advantage of 
being softer and more pliable.* 

"Their woollen garments, though probably manufactured 
in the same manner, have the strongest resemblance to wo- 
ven cloth. They are of different degress of fineness, some 
resembling our coarser rugs and blankets, and others are al- 
most equal to our finest sorts; or, even softer, and certainly 
warmer, &c. The various figures which are very artificially 
inserted in them, destroy the supposition of their having 
been wrought in a loom. The wool of which they are made, 
seems to be taken from different animals, among which are, 
the wolf, and brown lynx." v 

La Peyrouse (Voyage ii. 148,) says, "these woollen gar- 
ments are made from the hair of different animals, and is 
spun into yarn, with which, by the help of a needle, they' 
fabricate a tissue equal to our tapestry." 
I| Vancouver, (Voyage, iii. 250,) saw a chief clothed in a 
fine large mantle, made from the wool of the mountain 
sheep. But one other people of North America, made this 
woollen cloth according to our knowledge. Charlevoix, 
(Travels, 292,) says, that the women of the Illinois, spin 
the wool of the bison, and make garments of it which they 
dye of various colours. As the hide of this animal, prepared 
with the fur or wool on it, makes an excellent winter cloak, 
it most probably superseded the more tedious manufacture, 
of spinning and weaving the fur into clothing, ft 

In Peru and Chili, we again find clothing manufactured 
from hair or wool, but the people of these countries were 
half civilized, and do not fall under our present considera- 
tion. 

* Captain Cook says, (Voy. to N. I-Iemis. ii. 271,) that the bark dresses 
of the natives of Nootka, &c were manufactured exactly in the s?rne man- 
ner with those made by the New Zelanders. 



-2 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



In Patagonia, according to Falkner, (Descrip. Patagonia, 
128,) some of the Indians make or weave, fine mantles from 
woollen yarn of the Guanaco, "beautifully dyed with many co= 
lours, which when wrapped round their bodies, reach from 
the shoulders to the calf of the leg." 

In Mexico, the West India islands, and over South Ame- 
rica, the natives made their clothing partially from skins 
or leather, but chiefly from cotton* and wild hemp, which 
was spun with a distaff twirled in the hand; and afterwards 
woven in a rude loom. Both of these instruments, may be 
seen among the figures of the Mexican hieroglyphics. Co- 
lumbus, {Pink. American Voyages, ii. 93,) found looms in 
the island of Gaudaloupe, which he compares to those used 
at that time in Spain and Italy, for the purpose of making 
tapestry. 

The spindle was used among the Guaranis of Brazil, even 
whilst they were walking about. {Southey's Hist. Brazil, 
i. 243.) 

As may be readily supposed, the cloths thus made, were 
of various degrees of fineness; yet the Tupinambas, {Pur- 
chas, Pilgrims, iv. 1342,) are reported to have manufactured 
cotton so fine, that clothing made from their fabrics, when 
taken to France, were thought to be silk. I presume this 
must have been from very careless examination, or perhaps 
instead of being cotton? the cloth in question was made from 
thistle lint, or some other such substance, which they spun, 
manufactured, and also dyed of various colours. (Southey's 
Brazil, i. 124.) Charlevoix also notices the manufacture of 
nettle lint, among the South American Indians. 

In the West Indies, and certain parts of South America, 
both men and women went naked, excepting perhaps occa- 
sionally, a small cover or flap made of various materials, 
which was used simply for purposes of decency; though 
even this was very often omitted. Columbus describes them 
in this state of entire nudity; and Sir Walter Raleigh ob- 
served the same thing in Guaiana. The Spanish writers 
enumerate many other instances. Even in North America, 
during warm weather, the Indians whether male or female, 
used nothing but the breech cloth; and in the winter, only 
wore in addition a mantle of fur, which was girt round the 
loins, and then muffled round the neck or shoulders with the 

* Cotton answered every purpose among the West Indians, and South Ame- 
ricans, to which the wild hemp or flax is applied among the more northern 
tribes. The hammock was derived from them, as well as its name, which 
is a Haytien word. It was nearly of universal use in South America. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



S3 



hands, or tied with a string. (Hist, of Virginia by a Na- 
tive, 141.) 

- r But speaking more explicitly, the dress of the North 
American Indians, consisted of a shirt without a collar, and 
sometimes without sleeves, made of their chamois leather, 
which came half way down the thigh, and was fastened 
round the middle of the body. They wore on their legs, 
leather leggings, that came a little above where the shirt ter- 
minated, and they protected their feet by mocasins of the 
same material, or simply the skin of some animals leg, 
drawn over the foot. Over their shoulders, they wore a man- 
tle of fur, which served them at night instead of a bed.?* 

In the winter, when a deep snow lay on the ground, the 
northern Indians attached to their feet a contrivance called 
"snow shoes. ?? These are two light but strong frames of 
wood, several feet in length, with six or nine inches of 
breadth, covered with the skin of an animal. In this manner 
they were able to walk without sinking in the snow. The 
Laplanders, Kamtchadales, &c. use the same contrivance. " 

The dress of the women was very nearly the same as that 
of the men, their chemise, however, was more loose, and 
came down to the knee, or a little lower. ? 

Both sexes decorated their garments with beads of wam= 
pum, porcupine quills dyed of various colours, feathers, 
fringes, pieces of copper, coarse pearls, &c. and often paint- 
ed the inside of their mantles with showy colours, arranged 
in various fanciful figures. \\ 

The dress of the South Americans, was, for the most part, 
a shirt, of greater or less length, made of cotton, to which 
they added a mantle, or such other clothing, as necessity 
might require from their local situations, when near or on 
mountains, &c. 

The mantle, as worn in Brazil, Chili, &c. was called 
aobaci or poncho. It was about two yards in length, by 
about one in breadth. In the middle of this cloth was a slit, 
made longitudinally, through which the head was passed, 
and the garment hung thus around the whole person. This 
kind of mantle was used among the people of Otaheite. 

In very cold weather, the Indians may have covered their 
heads with a kind of hood, as was done by the Esquimaux; 
but I have not observed any head dress,* to be worn among 

*That is, for protection; for they very often wore feathers, and other mat- 
ters which they considered ornamental, stuck in their hair, or in a fillet tied 
round the head. The natives of the north west coast, in time of rain cover- 
ed the head with a conical basket, which was woven so close that when not 
thus employed, was used to hold water, (Lewis and Clark, ii. 126 = ) But 
these baskets cannot be considered but as accidental coverings for the head, 



84 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



the barbarous tribes, except those on the coast of Paria, a 
circumstance mentioned by Herrera, (i. 192, 197,) and 
which must be there considered as indicating some degree 
of civilized manners, as not being necessary from the warmth 
of climate. 

Their manufactures, are referrible to more particular heads; 
but to speak in general terms, we may say they were both 
few am! rude. I{ If they manufactured wood, it was done 
partly with sharp stones, bones, shells, &c, and partly by 
fire, with which and invincible patience, they cut down 
trees, and made canoes, mortars for pounding corn, troughs, 
bowls, &c, for domestic purposes.* t( 
!> Stones and flints they brought to the desired shape, by 
gradually breaking off small pieces with another stone, and 
sometimes by long continued rubbing or grinding. By this 
means I have seen a piece of very compact quartz, wrought 
into a convenient shape, which must have required the la- 
bour of many months. 

They also made a coarse pottery of clay, but little supe- 
rior to our tiles in quality? and which were unglazed. Some 
of the tribes adjacent to the river Mississippi, to a finer clay 
added pounded muscle shells, and made a ware, according to 
the Portuguese gentleman who accompanied Soto, not infe- 
rior to the ordinary earthen ware of Portugal. 

According to Ligon, (Edwards' West Indies, i, 56,) the 
Caraibs of the West India islands, made a handsome light 
pottery, equal to that made in England, A. D. 1647. 

The Tupinambas of Brazil, (Southey's Hist. Brazil^ i. 
244,) who were in many respects superior to other savages 
of America, made by their women earthen vessels large 
enough to bury their dead in erect; and by means of a white 
liquor, glazed the inside as well as if it had been done in 
Europe. Purchas {Pilgrims, iv. 1263,) relates, that they 
made pots, that looked as if they were gilded, some of 
which would hold thirty or forty gallons. 

This glazing, as it is called, was nothing more than a var- 
nish, made from some of the gums peculiar to the country, 
of which the algarabo, seems to have been most commonly 
used. (Humboldt Pers, Mar. v. 157, 285.) 

The savage nations of America, made but little use of mc- 
lals, and of tiiose kinds only, that are found in a virgin or 

x VVheu the North American tribes boiled their food, it was accomplished 
by bark or wooden kettles, into which stones made red hot were thrown 
from lime to lime, until the mess was sufficiently cooked. From their wan- 
dering course of life, earthen ware would have been continually broken, and 

not having metal pots, they were forced into this contrivance. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



85 



metallic state. Gold and silver, they pounded or beat into 
plates, bracelets, and other rude ornaments. In the larger 
West India islands, parts of the isthmus of Darien, and 
northern coasts of South America, these decorations made 
from the precious metals were seen in such numbers, as to 
excite the cupidity of the first discoverers to the commis- 
sion of crimes, unexampled for their atrocity. 

Copper was of much more universal use; for its mines 
were more widely distributed over the continent, and its 
evident superiority to their stone weapons and implements, 
had, in certain places, caused it to be used for such purposes. 
However, generally speaking, it was sufficiently rare to be 
esteemed ornamental, and perhaps a much larger proportion 
of it was used for personal decoration, than for matters of 
utility or defence. But, in a greater or less degree, it appears 
to have been used throughout all America. On the Atlantic 
coasts, it was noticed by all the earlier navigators, from 
Nova Scotia to Patagonia. In Mexico and Peru, it was ap- 
plied to those purposes for which we use iron, and they were 
enabled to harden and temper it to that degree, that it does 
not appear to have been much, if any ways inferior, to our 
more ordinary cutting tools and instruments. 
\ Iron, which was undoubtedly meteoric, was made use of , 
for knives, by an ingenious contrivance of a band of Esqui- | 
maux, as is related in the Polar expedition of Captains Ross 
and Parry. 

I have met with no other account of iron being found 
among the American Indians, where it could not be traced 
to communications with civilized nations, unless it be, that 
the iron knives found among the natives of the North West 
coast by La Peyrouse, ( Voy. ii. 88,) were also of meteoric 
origin, which he says were "as soft as lead, and as easy to 
be cut." I apprehend, however, there must be some mis- 
take in this statement. 

After considering their manufactures, we seem naturally 
led to notice their contrivances for saving human labour, 
which however are referrible but to one head, namely, the 
use of animals for draught. 

The demi-civilized Peruvians, trained the lama for this 
purpose, and many tribes in North America, used dogs for 
drawing burthens. The instances are so numerous, that it is 
really surprising, some writers should have disputed the 
fact, that dogs were found in America, before Europeans im- 
ported them hither, 
12 



86 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



Soto found numbers of dogs in Florida, A. D. 1540; and 
the early accounts of Louisiana, constantly speak of them 
as being there used for draft. (Du Pratz, i. 110, &c.) 

Frobisher, A. D. 1577, (Hackluyt, iii. 37, 66,) describes 
the Esquimaux, as yoking dogs not much unlike wolves, to 
their sledges. The Greenlanders have the same race of 
dogs, and use them in like manner. (Egede, 63.) Kalm, 
Travels, ii. 366,) says, that the Esquimaux, for centuries 
back, have had dogs, which they used both for hunting and 
drawing their sledges. 

Coronado, in his expedition to Cibola, A. D. 1540, de- 
scribes the Indians in that region, as using dogs for purposes 
of draft. {Hackluyt, iii. 374, &c.) 

Of the Amusements, or Recreations, of the Barbarous 
American Indians. 

Under this head, we propose to enumerate those gratifica- 
tions, with which the savage tribes indulged themselves, du- 
ring the leisure moments that occurred after successful hunt- 
ing, or when their natural wants being satisfied, they sought 
relief from the tedium of idleness, in those amusements or 
gratifications, that the barbarity of their social state permit- 
ted them to employ. 

As may be easily supposed, there was little intellectual in 
their amusements; though in some instances, they appear to 
have used fictitious tales, and moral apologues, not uninter- 
esting. Mr. Schoolcraft has related several of these fic- 
tions in his tour, and there are a few printed in the transac- 
tions of the Irish academy, ix. 101. 

They sometimes amused themselves with wrestling, leap- 
ing, running foot races, shooting with the bow, and such 
other recreations, as all rude nations naturally engage in for 
pastime. 

A very masculine game, something resembling cricket or 
foot ball, was played by them throughout the whole conti- 
nent, whose general character may be understood from the 
following description of it, as practised among the Choctaws. 
"The ball is made of a piece of scraped deer skin, mois- 
tened, and stuffed hard with hair, and strongly sewed with 
sinews. The game is played by two parties, with short 
sticks, who contend with each other in driving the ball be- 
tween two opposite goals, about five hundred yards apart.'/ 
There were some variations in the manner of playing this 
game, that arc not deemed worthy of particular notice: 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



87 



The' Mexicans, for instance, struck their balls with the arm, 
shoulder, knee, &c. , the use of the hand and foot being pro- 
hibited. Similar games of ball, have been played all over 
the world, and are common in Sumatra, &c. (Marsden, Su- 
matra, 237. Forrest's Voy. 300.) 

Another game, which we shall call by its Choctaw names 
Chungke, was played by several North American tribes, 
It is thus described. {Adair's American Indians, 402.) 
* 'After the ground has been smoothed for the purpose, 
the Choctaw take a stone about two fingers broad at the 
edge, and two spans round; each party, (two or three only 
play at a time,) has a pole about eight feet long, which when 
the stone is rolled along the ground, they throw after it, and 
who ever throws nearest the stone, counts towards the game, 
The stones which they now use, were in immemorial time 
rubbed smooth on the rocks with prodigious labour; they 
are kept from generation to generation, and belong to the 
town."?"? 

I can vouch for the great labour employed in the manu- 
facture of these stones, from one found in Virginia, near the 
Potomac, which was brought to me. It was of unusually 
compact quartz, and was like the truck wheel of a ship's gun 
carriage, about six inches in diameter, and two in thickness 
at the circumference. It was dished in on both sides, until 
a hole was made in the centre of about an inch in diameter. 
The whole stone was regularly formed, and well smoothed 
or polished. 

Tfiough this game was played by several other nations, 
they generally used a wooden hoop, in lieu of a stone, 
whose fabrication requires such considerable labour. From 
this latter circumstance, I am induced to believe, that those 
smooth stones possessed by the Choctaws, were not made by 
them, but have been procured by some means or other, 
from the ancient demi-civilized Natchez, Taensas, &c, who 
were an abject people, living under a despotic form of go- 
vernment. 

I have met with nothing analogous to this game, either in 
South America, or in any part of the eastern continent; un- 
less it be that the Sandwich islanders amused themselves 
with something similar. Captain Cook, {Voy. N. Hem. ii. 
237,) observes, "they play at bowls with pieces of whetstone 
of about a pound weight, shaped somewhat like a small 
cheese, but rounded at the sides and edges, and nicely po- 
lished." 



B8 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



The Araucanians of Chili, {Molina Hist, Chili, ii, 109,) 
amused themselves with a game, precisely like that called 
by our boys, bandy. This game is also described by Ste- 
venson. [Travels in South America, i. 17.) 

The game of the dish or platter, consisted in throwing up 
small pieces of flat bones or plum stones, coloured differ- 
ently on either side, and which were caught in a dish, or on 
a mat; and according to the coloured sides uppermost, the 
parties won or lost. This game was in general use among 
the more northern tribes of North America;iisee Charlevoix, 
Mackenzie, Lewis and Clark's Travels, &c. It does not ap- 
pear to have been used in South America. There was a 
game played among the Algonquin tribes called the game of 
straws; in which two hundred and one straws, about six 
inches in length, were employed. {Charlevoix's Travels, 
226.) It is too uninteresting to be further described. Mar- 
chand, {Voy. i. 448,) observed, I presume, the same game 
on the North West Coast, but there only fifty-two small twigs 
or straws were used. 

The Abbe Molina, {Hist. Chili, ii. 108,) reports, that the 
Araucanians of Chili, play chess, which game has been 
known to them from time immemorial, by the name of 
comic an. 

I cannot bring myself to believe this relation, notwith- 
standing the very great antiquity of this game in the eastern 
continent. The Abbe has not given any detailed account of 
the manner in which it was played; and I suspect, either an 
error in the English translation of his history of Chili, or 
that the game played there, has but a very remote analogy 
to chess. 

With these, and some other games, too uninteresting to be 
described, the Indians gambled to the greatest excess; they 
staked furniture, tools, clothes, and even their liberty, on 
the hazard of the garnet with all the madness and folly that 
characterized the ancient Germans, as related by Tacitus. 
{Mor. Germ, xxiv.) 

Dancing constituted another amusement of the various In- 
dian tribes, but unlike those of civilized people,* their dances 
were all characteristic. Thus their war dances, represented 
the actions of war; they brandished their weapons, they 

* Though not generally understood, I apprehend the gestures and figures 
of our dances, represent subjects of love and courtship. Though now an in- 
nocent amusement, they were in their original certainly licentious and im- 
modest. The late Dr. E. D. Clarke, in his travels in Scandinavia, has made 
» similar observation concerning the original features of our dances. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



89 



whooped and shouted, and made gestures significant of threats 
and defiance. 

The Pyhrric dance of the ancient Greeks, was of the same 
character, for warriors in armour, danced around a fire in the 
open air, with all the mimicry of war, I presume every rude 
nation has similar dances; Crawfurd {Hist. Ind. Archip. i. 
123. 233,) describes such, among the people of Java, Cele- 
bes, Magindinao, &c. 

The war dance among the North American Indians, was 
commonly performed previous to setting out on a military 
expedition, and seems to have answered the civilized prac- 
tice of beating up for volunteers. A painted pole was some- 
times set up, around which they danced, and all those who 
enlisted for the enterprise, struck it with their tomahawks 
or war clubs. 

Other dances represented the stratagems of hunting, as far 
as could be represented in a small circle; and such dances 
were as various as the different animals they were in the 
habit of pursuing. All these dances were performed by men 
alone, and had no determinate step or figure; the accuracy of 
the representation constituted the merit of the performance, 
which in some respects might be considered as pantomime. 
An early describer of the Virginia Indians, in speaking of 
their dances, says, "he was the bravest fellow that made the 
most prodigious gestures." 

I consider the visors or masks, observed pretty generally 
throughout the continent by the first travellers, were chiefly 
used for these pantomimic dances; though they were also 
employed in their superstitious or religious practices. Her- 
rera [Hist. Amer. v. 7.) says, such were the customs in Peru. 

The women had their dances among themselves, and which 
represented their peculiar employments. On some occasions 
they danced in a circle, which was enclosed by a larger one 
of the men. This custom, however, seems to belong more 
especially to the South American tribes. They had gene- 
rally a musical accompaniment to their dances, either from 
rude instruments, or from the singing of unmeaning words, 
of as much import as our tol lol de rol; and to the same in- 
tent. Some writers have affixed a very peculiar and impor- 
tant signification to these sounds; for believing the Indians of 
America, to be descendants of the ten tribes carried from Sa- 
maria by Shalmanazer, they have fancied that they thus re- 
peated the ineffable name Jehovah. This most ridiculous con- 
ceit, has a strange prevalence among the people of the United 



90 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



States, though all the analogy of sound, is to be found in hee^ 
hee, ho, ho, hee, hee, ho, ho,* as I have heard them used, 
and as Hearne, [Journey to N. Ocean, 354,) and Carver, 
(Travels, 172,) both describe them. The same sounds are 
also used among the Brazilian tribes. (Purchas, iv. 133S; 
Southey's Hist. Brazil, i. 203.) 

Their musical instruments consisted of gourds, or the skin 
of some small animal, inflated and well dried, containing 
stones, or other substances, that would make a rattling noise 
when shaken. Sometimes, bunches of deer hoofs, tied to a 
stick, were rattled in like manner. At other times, they 
used a notched stick three feet long, across whose notches, 
another stick was drawn backward and forward, con amore. 
At other times a well dried deer skin, was shaken by one or 
more persons with similar melody, and sometimes being 
stretched over a hollow log or an earthen pot, it produced 
the sound of a dull drum. \ 

The immensely large drums used by the Indians on the 
Orinoco, were for the purpose of alarming the country in 
times of invasion, and not for music. 

Some nations on the Orinoco, (Gumilla, Hist, de VOri- 
noque, i. 303,) had trumpets four or five feet long, made of 
baked clay, with several large globular enlargements of the 
tube. The sound of these instruments, to which the Indians 
danced, says Gumilla, "fill the soul with black melancholy." 
They had also trumpets or bugles, made from the bark of 
certain trees. 

A greater perfection of musical instruments, was shewn in 
what has been called their flutes; which appear to have been 
in general use in both Americas: sometimes they made these 
flutes from a reed perforated with three or four holes, but 
more generally, at least in South America, they used the leg 
bone of a man or other animal; hence Southey punningly 
calls the instrument, the "American tibia." 

The most agreeable instrument, however, to civilized ears, 
was the syrinx or Pan's pipe, which was in use among the 
natives of the North West Coast, the Caraibs, &c. This sim- 
ple instrument has been known in all parts of the globe. It 
was an appendage to the rural deities of Greece; and naviga- 
tors in the Pacific ocean, describe its use among the islanders 
of that sea. 

* One can scarcely forbear smiling on this subject when we remember, that 
the Jews, who from the earliest times would not pronounce the name Jehovah, 
even in their religious services; should be now supposed to have forgotten 
every other part of their institutions, but how to profane this sacred name. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



91 



Columbus observed a musical instrument among the Hay- 
tians, (Pink. Jim. Voy. ii. 85; Herrera, i. 164,) that is so 
unlike any instrument I have ever met with, that I must use 
the description there given of it. It was called maio havan, 
"made of wood, hollow, strong, yet very thin, and as long as 
a man's arm: that part where they play on it, is made like 
a smith's tongs; the other end is like a club, so that it looks 
like a calabash with a long neck. It is so loud that it can be 
heard a league and a half off." 

The editor of Marchand's Voyages, (i. 144,) seems to think 
the harp, was used on the North West Coast. But as this 
idea was only derived from the examination of a painting 
made by the natives, I am inclined to suspect the observer 
was deceived, and called that a harp, which probably was in- 
tended for some mechanical tool or implement. I know not 
a single instance of a harp even of the rudest kind, having 
been observed any where in America. 

Hitherto, we have described nothing so peculiar to the 
American Indians, but what analogous customs might be pro- 
duced from the history of other rude nations elsewhere. 
But we must now take notice of a practice which originally 
belonged to the savages of America, and to them only, though 
it now constitutes an essential gratification to all the civil- 
ized nations of Europe, as well as to all the savages of Asia 
and Africa. We allude to the use of tobacco. 

Throughout America, tobacco was cultivated wherever 
the climate was sufficiently mild to permit its growth. It 
was only in the inclement country of the Esquimaux and 
adjacent northern Indians, that it was not used; for the con- 
stant hostility that prevailed among the aboriginal tribes, and 
their ignorance of traffic or barter, prohibited its use where- 
ver the natives were unable to procure this plant by their 
own labour. — - 

The natives on the North West Coast bordering on the 
Columbia river, appear to have used tobacco but in small 
quantities, (Lewis and Clark, ii. 15, &c.) though their relish 
for it either in smoke or snuff,* does not appear to be less 
than that of the tribes east of the Rocky mountains. More 
south in California, they smoked ad libitum. (Hackluyt, iiL 
432; Venegas, i. 68.) 

The Peruvians, according to Ulloa, (Mem. Philos. ii. 59.) 
hardly make any use of tobacco, an exception which as it 
does not depend upon any defect of climate or soil, must be 

*The Aleutians are passionately fond of snuff; (Langsdor^s Vny, Sib}) which 
I presume they have learned from the Russians. 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



explained by the prevalence of their custom of drinking chi= 
cha, or chewing cocu; practices we shall presently describe. 

These are the only exceptions that we are aware of among 
the Indians of America in the use of tobacco; every where 
else it was used, even into Patagonia. [Falkner's Descript, 
Patag. 91.) 

It is a very difficult, and certainly a very curious question 
to solve, how the use of this narcotic plant first originated. 
What could induce any one a priori to imagine, that plea- 
sure or satisfaction could be felt by inhaling smoke of any 
kind? and tobacco smoke of all other species, would seem to 
have the least attraction to recommend it to a second trial? 
I am inclined to think, that its use has originated in the prac- 
tices of the conjuring doctors of the savage tribes, who some 
how or other discovered its narcotic powers, and found it 
serviceable either in their own persons, or on the spectators 
of their various extravagancies. |i Habit, modified by differ- 
ent considerations, may have confirmed a practice which was 
found to soothe care, or excite stronger sensations in vacant 
and gross minds; and such being the character of the whole 
race, its charm was co-extensive. Unacquainted with the 
more pernicious stimulant of fermented liquors, smoking was 
its equivalent among the rude Indians of North America, and 
became the pledge of their hospitality, like the salt of the 
Arab. Even national differences were accommodated and 
treaties were ratified, by nations laying down their arms and 
smoking a national pipe, emblematical of a happy security 
and idleness; in which as if members of one common socie- 
ty they had no longer enemies to fear. 

The Indians of North America used a pipe for smoking. 
The Mexicans filled reeds and tubes with tobacco and other 
plants grateful to their taste. They also smoked cigars, which 
method of using tobacco prevailed as far as Patagonia, the 
pipe being little used in South America. All these different 
nations, however, drew the smoke into their mouths by their 
own exertions. But the Indians of the isthmus of Darien, 
(Wafer's Descrip. 80,) from laziness, or from some good but 
hitherto unassigned reason, had the smoke blown into their 
mouths by a servant, who having made a very large cigar, 
put the lighted end into his own mouth, and blew the smoke 
through into the opened mouth of the expecting guest. 

Chewing and snuffing tobacco, can scarcely be said to have 
been practiced in America north of Mexico: in that empire 
it was partially used in these forms, But in the West India 
islands, and generally in South America, north of the river 
Amazon, and east of the Andes> snuff compounded of tobacco 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



93 



and other narcotic plants, fully disputed the sovereignty of 
the pipe or cigar. The practice of chewing tobacco, no where 
prevailed to any remarkable degree. 

The natives of the West India islands, snuffed tobacco and 
other narcotics up the nose, through a reed twelve or four- 
teen inches in length. Father Romans, who accompanied 
Columbus, says, {Pink. Jim. Voy. ii. 83, &c.) the plant they 
used was called cohoba, and that it put them beside them- 
selves, as if they had been drunk. 

Condamine {Pink. Am. Voy. iv. 226,) tell us, that the 
Omaguas on the upper waters of the river Amazon, snuff up 
a narcotic powder which they call there curupa, by means 
of a forked hollow stick shaped like the letter Y; the forked 
end being inserted into the nostrils. He says, that the in- 
toxication that follows this practice, lasts twenty-four hours. 
Humboldt, {Pers. Nar. v. 662,) and Southey, {Hist. Brazil, 
iii. 723,) also describe the use of this intoxicating snuff in 
various parts of Brazil, Paraguay, &c. 

Oviedo, {Purchas 7 Pilgrims, v. 957,) says, that the In- 
dians of Haiti, inhaled the smoke of burning tobacco up the 
nose by the forked reed just described. 

Thus far as respects the general use of tobacco; the parti- 
cular use of the calumet, belongs to the Section concerning 
War and Peace. 

On the North West Coast of America, where smoking was 
too great a luxury to be enjoyed except on important occa- 
sions, {Lewis and Clark, ii. 15,) some tribes made use of a 
stimulus approaching very near to the betel chewing of the 
East Indies. It is thus described by Capt. Dixon. ( Voy. 
175.) "At Mulgraves sound, the natives are particularly 
fond of chewing a plant which appears to be a species of to- 
bacco. But not content, however, with chewing it in its 
simple state, they generally mix lime along with it, and some- 
times the inner bark of the pine tree, together with a resi- 
nous substance extracted from it." 

I consider Dixon to have mistaken this plant for tobacco; 
for Marchand, {Voy. i. 341,) who describes the same prac- 
tice, says the natives "prefer tobacco when they can get it." 

The Peruvians chewed the leaves of a plant which they 
called cuca or coca, together with chalk or lime. Ulloa 
{Voy. i. 345,) says this plant is exactly the same "with the 
betel of the East Indies; the plant, the leaf, the manner of 
using it being the same."* 

" 1 have seen somewhere, though I cannot remember in what place, that 
the coca is the Erythroxylon Peruviauum; but this I beJieve, is a tree. The 
betel of the E. Indies is a species of piper, which is a vine, 
13 



94 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



Columbus observed the Indians of Veragua, (Pink. Jim. 
Voy. ii. 137,) tochew an herbalong with some kind of powder, 
which he does not describe. Humboldt (Pers. Nar. in. 225,) 
considers it to have been lime, which is still used by the In- 
dians at the mouth of the Rio de la Hacha, for the purpose 
of stimulating the salivary glands. Purchas also (Pilgrims, 
v. 896,) says, the Indians of Cumana chew the leaves of a 
tree called gay,* mixed with lime made from burnt shells. 

The Jumas and other Brazilian tribes, (Southey's Hist. 
Brazil, iii. 705,) parch and pulverize the leaves of a plant 
called ipadu, which they stuff into their mouths and swal- 
low gradually. As it is swallowed they put in more, so as to 
keep the mouth always full. They say it takes away both 
the necessity and desire of sleep, and keeps them in a delight- 
ful state of indolent tranquillity. 
/! The Indians north of Mexico, seem to have been without 
inebriating drinks of any kind. The beverage prepared by 
the Creeks, Chocktaws, &c. from the cassine, (Prinos Gla- 
ber,) and called by Adair and others, the "beloved drink," 
was not intoxicating. // 

In Long's Exped. Rocky mountains, ii. 194, we are in- 
formed, that among the Otoes (west of the Mississippi,) an un- 
known species of bean or seed, called the "intoxicating bean," 
is used by a private association of Indian sensualists of that 
nation. From the vague mention there made, I apprehend 
this bean to possess highly narcotic powers, and that an 
aqueous tincture of it is administered, rather than a "bever- 
age," for it is said a horse has been sometimes given for 
eight or ten beans. 

The Mexicans prepared an intoxicating drink from the 
maguey, (Agave Americana) whose use however was prohi- 
bited to any persons, but those who were grandfathers or 
grandmothers, under pain of death. 

The Indians of the Isthmus of Darien, (Woofer, 123,) the 
Peruvians, Caraibs, and Tupinambas of Brazil, &c. prepared 
inebriating drinks, from maize, mandioc, and other vegetable 
substances, according to the detestable process of brewing 
kava in the South Sea islands. A number of persons sat 
down together and chewed the above mentioned substances, 
until sufficiently bruised by the teeth, when they spit their 
mouthfuls into a large vessel prepared for this purpose. 
VV r hen a sufficient quantity was obtained, water was poured 
on the mass, and the mixture left to ferment. It was then 
drank to intoxication. 

* Is not this the matte or herb of Paraguay r which the Indians there call 

caa. (Charlevoix, Hist. Parag. i. 15.) 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



95 



From the cashew apple, the Brazilians also prepared a bet- 
ter and more cleanly drink, by simply expressing its juice. 
Others made a good beverage from honey.* 

Orellana, on his voyage down the river Amazons, (Sou- 
they's Hist. Brazil, i. 93,) relates, that he saw "beer made 
from oats," in a village whence the natives had been driven 
by his followers. I presume it was nothing else than chica. 

The matte, or herb of Paraguay, (Gallium mollugo) now 
so much used by the Spaniards of South America, was de- 
rived by them from the Indians of Paraguay, who call it caa. 
The leaves are infused in hot water, and sucked through a 
tube. It has something of the flavour of tea, and is stimu- 
lant, narcotic and diuretic; inducing intoxication if drank, to 
excess. {Charlevoix, Hist. Parag. i. 15, 17; Southey^s 
Hist. Braz. ii. 356.) 

Among the customs just described, are two, which offer 
apparently striking analogies, to certain habits of the East 
Indians and islanders of the Pacific ocean; these we shall se- 
parately examine, and first of the chewing of leaves, &c. 
mixed with lime. 

The chewing of the areca nut, the betel leaf, and lime to- 
gether, is a practice which has prevailed at one time or other 
in Hindostan, China, and the great islands of the Indian 
ocean; extending down to New Holland,. and the islands in 
that neighborhood. It is a curious circumstance, however, 
that this custom does not appear to have been observed among 
the natives of New Zealand, the Sandwich, the Friendly, or 
Society islands; or other islands in the Pacific ocean; who 
in other respects, offer many analogies to the Indian island- 
ers. 

One could hardly imagine that the practice of putting lime 
into the mouth, could have two distinct origins; yet the vast 
distance between the American Indians, and those Asiatic 
tribes that indulge in this habit, precludes the possibility of 
any communication between them since the earliest periods 
of time; which would ascribe apparently, too great an anti- 
quity to so preposterous a custom. 

* As the honey bee has been denied to have existed in America previous 
to the discovery by Europeans, I beg leave to mention thus incidentally in a 
note, that Clavigero (Hist. Mex. i. 90,) says, there are six different kinds of 
bees in Mexico; one of which "is the same with the common bee of Europe, 
in size, shape, colour, disposition, manners, and qualities of its honey and 
wax." 

Garcillazo de la Vega (Roy. Comment. 337,) relates, "there are wild bees in 
Peru, that make hives in hollow trees, and clefts of rocks; and that their ho- 
ney is excellent, white, clear, and very sweet." 



96 OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



With respect to the nauseous preparation of those intoxi- 
cating drinks used by the Peruvians, and other nations of 
South America, and generally known by the name of chicha, 
or acua, according to the language of Peru, we must observe, 
that the resemblance, however striking at first sight to the pre- 
paration of kava among the South Sea islanders, is perhaps 
after all very remote, and simply belongs to the great imper- 
fection of their mechanical arts, and disregard to those refine- 
ments of cleanliness, which so especially characterizes civil- 
ized life. 

Almost all rude nations are remarkable for their love of 
intoxicating drinks,* in which they indulge to an excess al- 
most amounting to madness. With the frequent gratification 
of this propensity, they like all other drunkards, at last be- 
come regardless of any considerations of health or life; and 
therefore we can little expect such gross beings, to [regard 
decency or cleanliness. From the earliest ages of the world, 
it has been known that grain bruised or mashed when infused 
in water, would make in a short time an intoxicating drink. 
This manufacture with people living in any tolerable state of 
comfort, would be accomplished by the means of a pestle and 
mortar; but a wandering and barbarous people, do not even 
possess this simple instrument, and the most natural method 
of preparing their grain for this purpose, would be to chew 
it in the mouth. This process however disgusting to civil- 
ized persons, is little regarded among savages. The Esqui- 
maux women chew their husband's gloves and boots, to ren- 
der them soft and pliable: {Lyon's Journal, 231,) and the 
natives of the North West Coast, (Marchand's Voy. i. 175,) 
offer to their particular friends, the mouthful they have 
chewed, "in order that they may have no other trouble than 
that of swallowing it. " 

Southey {Hist. Braz. i. 235,) says, that the Tupinambas 
gave their drink the name of caou-in or kaawy; which seems 
to be almost identical with the Otaheitan word kava, from 
which he seems inclined to derive it. But is it not more na- 
tural to find this word either in caa, the Paraguay name for 

* Baron Humboldt (Pers. Nar. v. 151,) mentions the strange anomaly 
Dmong the American Indians, of some tribes on the Orinoco, who dislike 
brandy. But this is a very rare exception to the universal fact, that all rude 
nations are characterized for delight in intoxication. Tacitus described the 
excess of this vice among the ancient Germans and its moral consequences, 
in language that has been deplorably realized in the history of the North 
American Indians. "If you indulge their love of liquor to the excess which 
they require, you need not employ the terror of arms: their own vices will 
subdue them." (Mor. Germ, xxiii.) 



SOCIAL AND MORAL. INSTITUTIONS 



^7 



their tea drink, which is perhaps a generic term, or in acua 
one of the Peruvian terms, for an infusion similarly prepared? 
Or is it one of those original words that belong tq the human 
race, and signifies in various languages an intoxicating drink? 
The word chicha of the Peruvians, is I am inclined to think 
of this kind, as may be seen in the annexed note.* 

The last gratification of the barbarous Indians that we shall 
enumerate, will be the vapour or sweating bath, which pre- 
vailed among them throughout North America as far as the 
southern boundaries of Mexico. // It consisted in erecting a 
small hut or apartment, into which hot stones were brought; 
water being thrown upon these, was converted into steam, 
occasioning a profuse perspiration in those persons shut up 
in the confined space. Though this bath was often used as a 
remedy for various disorders, it was not unfrequently resort- 
ed to as a gratification, after the exposures of hunting, fishing, 
&c. during inclement seasons, (f 

The Laplanders, Russians, &c. use the vapour bath in a 
similar manner. 

It does not appear to have been employed in South Ame- 
rica, unless occasionally as a remedy for rheumatism, &c. The 
heat of the climate, sufficiently explains the reason of this 
neglect. 

Of Marriages, fyc. of the Barbarous Indians. 

The parties having agreed to become man and wife, their 
union is declared by themselves in some uninteresting cere- 
monies, which took place in the presence of friends and re- 
latives, and which terminated by the whole company par- 
taking of a feast, attended with rude rejoicings.)\ The so- 
lemnization of marriage among the ruder Indians, can hard- 
ly be said to deserve notice; for not only did the unmarried 
women live unchastely, but this licentiousness of their ha- 
bits, did not in the least degree affect their character. By 
marriage, however, the husband acquired an authority over 
the wife, whereby he punished her adultery, when commit- 

* This curious etymological inference I have derived from Dr. Adam 
Clark's notes upon Luke, 1st chap. v. 15; and Levit. x. chap. v. 9th. "The 
Greek word 2»xspa intoxicating drink, comes from the Hebrew *")^^ shecer, 
which is derived from ""I^J^ shaker to inebriate. Any inebriating drink, says 
St. Jerome, (Epist. ad Nepot.) is called sikera, whether made of apples, corn, 
honey, dates, or other fruits. One of the four prohibited liquors among the 
East India Musslemans, is called sikkir, and is made by steeping fresh dates 
in water, till they take effect in sweetening it." 



98 OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



ted without his permission, either by biting off her nose," 
cutting off her hair, or even putting her to death. Yet 
there was nothing more common, than a husband lending his 
wife to a friend or guest. 

No dowry was paid to the father of the girl, from the 
evident reason, that the difficulty of supporting his family 
was thus diminished. But in some instances, presents 
were made, probably to procure good will; and not un- 
frequently, the son-in-law remained with his wife's parents 
for some months, or a year, and thus his personal service 
was employed for the good of the family. 

Concubinage and polygamy, prevailed every where through- 
out the continent, whenever any one was pleased to claim 
the indulgence. The difficulty of procuring subsistence, 
however, generally limited them to one wife; who might be 
divorced at any time, or who might divorce herself, whene- 
ver she saw fit. 

I believe, the Indians universally recognized certain de- 
grees of consanguinity, within which marriage was consid- 
ered unlawful. The charge of incest among them, was to 
cover the infamy of European aggressions. There were 
no prejudices against the marriage of widows, but when 
their husbands had been killed in war, they would some- 
times wait until his death was revenged, before entering a 
second time into the bonds of matrimony. 

The Calchaquis, a tribe in the interior of Brazil, (South- 
ey's Hist. Brazil, iii. 669,) are said to have had among 
them the custom of marrying their brother's widows, to 
raise up seed for the dead: and some of the North Ameri- 
can tribes, are reported to have followed the same practice. 
{Charlevoix, Canada, 196.) It is not unlikely, that the 
brother takes under his care and protection, and perhaps 
marries, the distressed widow of a deceased brother, because 
similar practices prevail among various nations. t But that 
it was done with any view of raising up seed for the de- 
ceased, as was ordained by the Jewish law, is altogether an 

* Cutting or biting off the nose, seems to have been among almost every 
nation of the world, the punishment for adultery. Diod. Sic. lib. i. chap. 
4, says, it was the punishment inflicted by the ancient Egyptians. "For it 
was looked upon very fit, that the adulteress that tricked up herself to allure 
men to wantonness, should be punished in that part where her charms chiefly 
lay." 

f The people of Java, the Hindoos, (Crawfurd's Ind. Jlrchip. iii. 139,) and 
the natives of the Society Indians, (Forster's Observations, Voyage Round the 
Woi-ld, 601,) recognize such marriages. 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



99 



assumption of those persons, who have advocated the origin 
of the Indians from that people.* 

It was a pretty universal custom among the Indian women 
of North America, to retire to the woods, or otherwise se- 
clude themselves during their catamenial evacuation. This 
was especially observed among the females of the Choctaws, 
Chippeways, Appalaches, and some of the New England 
tribes. Carver (Travels, 152,) says, there is a house in the 
Sioux towns, provided for this purpose. This practice which 
also has been brought forward to prove the Jewish descent 
of the Indians, prevails among the Laplanders, (Leems, in 
Pink. Voy. ii. 377,) the natives of the Sandwich islands, 
&c.t {Campbell 9 s Voy. round the Globe, 190,) who cer- 
tainly never derived it from the Jews. The American In- 
dians imagined, that to be touched, or to have their weapons 
touched by women in that condition brought bad luck either 
in hunting or in war. 

Among the Caraibs, the Tupinambas, and other Brazilian 
tribes, a most ridiculous custom prevailed on the birth of a 
child. When a woman was delivered, the husband went to 
bed, and was nursed with great care until the navel string 
had dried away. In the mean time, the mother got up and 
attended to the family concerns. I am unacquainted with 
any North American tribe, allowing this custom, except the 
people of California. ( Venegas 9 Hist. California, i. 82.) 

Senseless as this practice seems, it has nevertheless been 
established among various nations of the eastern continent. 
The ancient Cantabrians, {Laborde 9 s Spain, ii. 383,) the 
people of Congo, (Malte-Brun, Geog. book, 69,) some of 
the Tartars visited by Marco Polo, (Micali Italie, iv. 160,) 
and the ancient Corsicans, acted the same ridiculous farce. 
Lafitau (Southey 9 s Hist. Brazil, ii. 238,) says, that the 
custom still existed in his time in the French provinces near 
Spain; and was there called /aire couvade. 

Some of the South American females if they bear twins, 
put one of them to death through a perverse sense of shame; 
for they say, it is only beasts, such as rats, and opossums, 

* Was the custom even established among the Indians, which ,1 altogether 
disbelieve, it proves nothing in favour of Jewish descent; for the institution 
of raising seed for a deceased brother, was established long before the time 
of the promulgation of the Jewish law. See history of Tamar and Judah's 
children, Genesis, chap, xxxviii. vers. 8, 9. 

t Some of the rude mountaineers of Hindostan, consider their women im- 
pure during their catamenial evacuation; and if one in this state should 
touch a man, he is considered defiled. (Jlsiat. Researches, iv. 79.) 



100 OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



that bring forth more than one at a birth.* (Humboldt 9 3 
Pers. Nar. v. 29.) 

A deformed child is unhesitatingly killed among many of 
the South American tribes. (Humboldt, as above.) The 
North Americans, 1 believe, were more humane. I have 
seen a very deformed Sac chief, who moved about in a 
bowl, from the uselessness of his lower limbs. 

Azara, ii. 94, relates, a curious circumstance of the Guana 
women of Paraguay, destroying their female infants so ge- 
nerally, as to make a great disproportion of numbers be- 
tween the two sexes. This they do to make their own sex 
of greater consequence; and the fact is, this nation of savages 
is more gentle, courteous, and better dressed, than any 
others of the country. 

A detestable custom prevailed in South America among 
the Guaycurus, Mbayas, and Abipones of Brazil, of raising 
only a single child. The women during pregnancy, used 
various means to procure abortion, until they supposed 
themselves pregnant for the last time. From this circum- 
stance they were frequently left without any issue. (Jlzara, 
ii. 115, 147, 156.) 

This custom was probably but of recent institution, and 
no doubt was circumscribed, but it has nevertheless entirely 
destroyed the numerous tribe of the Guayacurus. I have 
met with nothing analogous among the northern Indians. 
But it would seem there can be no custom or superstition so 
crueJ, barbarous, or stupid, among one people, but it has 
been also practiced elsewhere in the world. Sir William 
Jones, (Jisiat. Res. iv. 338,) describes the practice of de- 
stroying female infants, to exist among a race of Hindus, 
in the district of Benares. The reason they assign for this 
abominable custom, was the difficulty to procure suitable 
matches for their daughters when grown up. 

According to Ward's View of the Hindoos, (Vol. iii. 339,) 
this peculiar species of infanticide, prevails much more ex- 
tensively among that people than was known to Sir Wil- 
liam Jones. 

In China, also, (Morrison's Chinese Diet. i. 602,) the prac- 
tice of drowning female infants is so common, that books 
have been written expressly against that crime. 

*Gumilla, (Hist, de VOiinoco, i. 299,) however, adds to this, that the hus- 
bands of these women also have a theory, that twins cannot be begotten by 
one man; and they therefore regard such births as proofs of adultery, for 
which they chastise and otherwise punish their wives. 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 101 



The Indians of America are commonly charged with 
treating their wives with great brutality: Dr. Robertson 
says, they make them "a kind of beast of burthen, destined 
to every office of labour and fatigue. " But such assertions 
are very incorrectly made; for the squaw bears no more than 
a fair proportion of the necessary domestic toil. The hus- 
band fishes, hunts, and fights; the wife chiefly makes the 
hut, the implements of huswifery, and cultivates the ground* 
Is the husband making a beast of burthen of her by this? If 
so let us imagine him to stay at home, and do the work of 
the squaw, while she is out in the woods and fields, exposed 
to all the inclemencies of weather, hunting and fishing not 
for pastime, as persons are apt to consider it, but under the 
apprehension or very sting of hunger. Then, indeed, their 
condition would be hard; but as it is at present, it would be 
impossible for the man to support the family by hunting or 
fishing, and at the same time to do that work, which his 
wife indeed could do as well as himself. I question much, if 
the lower class of Europeans who work for daily wages, 
treat their wives in a manner different from that of the Indians: 
The Germans and Hollanders at least, do not; nor is it un- 
reasonable that the women should be helpmates, and assis- 
tants to their husbands, and bear a part of the labour and 
trouble of supporting a family, in a manner proportionate to 
their ability.* 

Heckewelder states, that the women say, their field la- 
bours last about six weeks, while that of the men continues 
throughout the year. After the harvest is made, the women 
have little else to do, than gather wood, and prepare the 
daily food; and the proof that their employments are not 
unreasonably severe, is, that women generally live longer 
than the men. 

It is also a great mistake to suppose the American Indians 
peculiar in this treatment of their wives. All rude nations 
are necessarily obliged to resort to the same division of la- 
bour. Thus though the ancient Germans, were remarkable 
for their respect of the female sex, yet Tacitus observes, 
{Mor, Germ, xv.) "they leave the management of their 

* We may venture in a note, to take notice of the charge frequently made 
against the Indians, that they think their women inferior to themselves: 
Are they so very singular in this respect? However ungracious the doctrine 
may sound in the ears of our fair unmarried country-women, they too often 
experience its truth in matrimony; as remarked by Pope to Miss Blount 

Whole years neglected, for some months adored: 

The fawning servant turns a haughty lord. 

14 



102 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



houses and lands to the women, the old men, and infirm part 
of the family. 5 '* 

Strabo remarks, (Geog. lib. iii.) that the ancient inhabitants 
of Spain, Liguria, &c. allotted husbandry, and other labo- 
rious work to their women. 

In Circasia, Bulgaria, at Sierra Leone, and among the 
Hottentots, &c. the women cultivate the ground. (Forster's 
Observations, Voyage round the Globe, 237.) 

Of the Religion of the Barbarous American Indians, 

It is almost an impossible task to exhibit with any clear- 
ness of description, the gross ideas of the American Indians 
concerning the existence and nature of God, or of their own 
moral obligations. 

They speak in a vague manner of a good spirit who rules 
over the affairs of the world, who is beneficent and kind in 
all his operations, but whom they little worship or regard. 
The chief end of their religious homage, is to propitiate the 
evil spirit, who if neglected, rouses up the storm, blasts 
their crops, destroys their game, or visits them with pesti- 
lence and death. Subordinate to these two great principles, 
are numerous other spirits, inferior in power, and more cir- 
cumscribed in their operations, who are perpetually inter- 
fering with human affairs. Under such impressions they are 
superstitious according to Heckewelder, (Histor. and Lit. 
Trans. 232,) to an "incredible degree." 

They believe in witchcraft, dreams, and charms; and 
every uncommon incident in life, is ascribed to some super- 
natural cause. But with all this superstition, they do not 
appear to have any thing like a regular, or even distinct 
apprehension of a religious system. The outlines of the 
scheme they acknowledge, is emphatically the religion of 
nature; for they perceive something good, and something 
evil in the world; which they can only comprehend to be 
caused, by the alternate ascendancy of good or evil spirits, 
whose power must therefore be nearly equal, as neither 
alone governs the universe, If they could be supposed to 
exercise ingenuity in their reasonings, they would probably 
refine their vague notions, into the Ormuz and Ahriman sys- 
tem of ancient Persia. Malte-Brun informs us, this has been 
done by certain negroes of Africa. 

No idea is more unfounded, than that the Indians wor- 

*I do not remember from what writer Slrabo is here quoted: I have never 
seen his geography. 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES, 



103 



shipped but one God. This notion has been derived from 
the advocates of the Jewish descent of this race, who have 
perverted every fact that came to their hands, as far as I 
have been able to examine this matter. 

The Six nations, according to Charlevoix, {Canada, 250,) 
"besides the Great Spirit and the other Gods, which are 
confounded with him, have an infinite number of Genii, or 
subaltern spirits, good and evil, which have their particular 
worship." 

The Virginians, {History by a Native, 168, 170,) believ- 
ed, there were tutelary deities to every town, &e. 

The Sioux, {Carver's Travels, 250,) in like manner, be- 
lieve in numerous spirits, who preside over lakes, rivers, 
mountains, &c. , and who are worshipped according to the very 
slight ritual of the Indians: and such in fact, was the case 
throughout the continent, as may be seen in the narration of 
every intelligent traveller.* 

The sense of moral obligation, or of conscientious re- 
straint, among the Indians is both weak and perverted, but 
nevertheless their sayings and actions constantly testify 
that they are under the influence of moral considerations. 
Mackenzie {Voy. 136,) relates, that an Indian seen by him, 
attributed a paralytic affection of the limbs with which he 
was afflicted, to a judgment upon his "cruelty," in having 
burned alive a wolf and her whelps in an old beaver lodge. 
The reader who is aware of the savage practices of Indian 
warfare, cannot but wonder at this power of conscience 
among barbarians, whom we are apt to consider almost des- 
titute of the moral sense. It, however, exemplifies the 
justness of St. Paul's observation concerning the Pagans; 
{Romans, chap. ii. v. 15,) that their consciences bear wit- 
ness, and their thoughts continually accuse, or else excuse 
one another. 

However, not to multiply facts and incidents of a similar 
nature, we consider the general proposition sufficiently es- 
tablished in their belief of a future state, and of its rewards 
or punishments, corresponding to their actions in the pre- 
sent life. This, necessarily implies a distinction, however 
,gross it may be, between right and wrong, and upon which 
conscience exerts her mighty influence. 

* Roger Williams, (Key to Indian Language, 109,) remarks, that the Narra- 
.gansets, "although they deny not that the Englishmen's God made English- 
men, and the heavens and the earth there; yet say, their Gods made them 
and the heavens, and the earth where they dwell." He proceeds in the next 
page to enumerate thirty-seven Gods, whose names had been communicated 
to him. 



104 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



When Champlain, in A. D. 1603, (Purchas, v. 826,) asked 
the Canadian Indians, what ceremonies they used in praying 
to their God, they replied, "they used none, but that every 
one prayed in his heart as he would." 

It cannot be perceived, says Smith, (Purchas, v. 839, 
841,) "that the Virginia Indians have any set holy days, 
only in some distress or want, fear of enemies, times of 
triumph, and of gathering their fruits, the whole country, 
men, women and children, assemble to their solemnities. 
The manner of their devotion is sometimes to make a great 
fire, all singing and dancing about the same, with rattles and 
shoutings, four or five hours. Sometimes they seat a man 
in the midst, and dance and sing about him, he all the while 
clapping his hands, as if to enable them to keep time; after 
this they go to their feasts." 

Roger Williams, (Key, &c. Ill,) quaintly says, that in the 
invocation of their Gods, the Narraganset priests and peo- 
ple, "joyne interchangeably in a laborious bodily service 
unto sweating, especially of the priest, who spends himself 
in strange antic gestures, and actions even into fainting." 

The sacrifices and religious offerings of the North Ame- 
rican Indians, were few and simple, and barely frequent 
enough, to enable us to recognize this most ancient institu- 
tion of divine worship. It consisted sometimes, in tying 
the legs of an animal together, and throwing it alive, into 
the river or lake they were navigating. [Henry's Travels, 
108, 127, 17S, &c.) At other times, they killed an animal 
in honour of some demon, and eat its flesh. An essential 
part of the ceremony among some northern tribes, seems to 
have been, that every portion of the animal should be 
eaten.* Some tribes, it is said, preserved the bones whole 
and unbroken, which they afterwards burnt or buried in the 
ground. In like manner, however, (Henry's Travels, 134,) 
they regarded the corn-cobs, remaining after such feasts, 
which were not to be broken, and were required to be buried 
in the ground, &c. 

At other times, something of more or less value to the 
owner, was consecrated to the spirits of the invisible world, 
by being deposited in particular places, or thrown into a 

* This practice has also confirmed the notion that the Indians kept the 
Jewish passover. It was however, no uncommon practice among many pagan 
nations. Thus when the Greeks, (Potier's Jlntiq. i. 233,) "sacrificed to Ves- 
ta, it was usual to eat the entire animal. To send any portion abroad was 
considered a crime. Hence the proverb Es<a Srusiv, and among the Ro- 
mans, lari saerifarc, was applied to gluttons who eat up all that is set before 
them.*' 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 105 



river, chasm, or torrent. In some few instances, whilst 
eating, they threw portions of their food into the fire, from 
superstitious notions. 

In Long's Expedition to the Rocky mountains, i. 357, it is 
said, a human sacrifice was annually offered by the Pawnee 
Loups, for the success of their harvest. As the history of 
this practice was unknown to the relators, and from its 
being certainly an insulated custom among the North Ame- 
rican Indians, I rather deem it a capricious institution, 
which even the barbarism of their condition, did not permit 
beyond a few repetitions. 

Strictly speaking, there were no priests among the barba- 
rous American tribes: Their function, as well as that of the 
physician, were exercised by persons, whom we consider 
better entitled to the appellation of conjurers, as their le- 
gerdemain practices shew their proficiency in this character, 
while their claim to the two other professions was both im- 
posture and impudence. Yet it is very natural that these 
three distinct professions, should be exercised among rude 
nations by one individual; for the Indians consider all dis- 
ease and mischance to proceed from witchcraft and super- 
natural causes, and not from accident or imprudence. Hence 
with them, as among the negroes of Africa, no one ever dies 
a natural death. To counteract the malice of gods or de- 
mons, the conjurers are called in upon all such occasions, 
and by natural inference, if any person has power enough to 
contend with such invisible agents, he can control the 
weather and seasons, bring good luck in hunting and fishing, 
protect from the casualties of war, cure diseases, recover 
lost goods, or do any thing in short, that requires supernatu* 
ral means and intelligence.* 

To accomplish their purposes, and maintain their cre- 
dit, for there was no system common to them all but to 
deceive; each conjurer adopts those means, that his own sa- 
gacity and adroitness leads him to consider the most impos- 
ing, and which are frequently performed with ventriloquial 
powers, and slight of hand dexterity, that is not surpassed 
in India or China. Of this we shall recite a few instances? 
as exhibiting the general character of their feats. 

In their visits to the sick, the general practice was to put 

*But though the conjurers thus derived wealth and consequence from the 
prevalence of such notions, yet on the other hand they were exposed to great 
danger. For if a superstitious Indian believed he was bewitched by the arts 
of a conjurer, or was so informed by some other envious conjurer, he did not 
hesitate to put him to death in revenge for the supposed injury. (Stevenson's^ 
Trav. South America, i. 61. Dobrizhoffer, Hist, dbipones, ii. 224, 227, &c> 



106 



SOCIAL AND MOHAL INSTITUTIONS 



a bone, a stone, a piece of flesh, &c. into their mouths, in 
such a manner as to be unobserved by any one, and then af- 
ter pulling and stretching the patient's limbs, turning him 
over, blowing on him, and sucking different parts of his 
body, they at last after a long repetition of the above ceremo- 
nies, produce as the cause of the patient's illness, whatever 
substance they had previously concealed in their mouths. 
Columbus observed this practice in Hayti. at the time of the 
discovery. {Pink. Am. Voy. ii. 85.) Henry (Travels, 
121,) describes it among the Chippeways. Charlevoix, 
{Hist. Paraguay, i. 205,) and Azara, {Voyages, ii. 140,) 
relate the same things among the Guaranis of Brazil. 

At other times, their exhibitions were ventriloquial, and 
much more imposing. The following account given by Capt. 
Lyon, {Private Journal, 260,) of the performance of an 
Esquimaux conjuror, is too complete and interesting to be 
abridged. 

"All light being excluded, the sorcerer began chanting with 
great vehemence. He then, as far as I could perceive, began 
turning himself rapidly round, and in a loud powerful voice 
vociferated for Tornga, (the name of his familiar spirit) with 
great impatience, at the same time blowing and snorting like a 
walrus. His noise, impatience, and agitation, increased every 
moment, and he at length seated himself on the deck, vary- 
ing his tones, and making a rustling with his clothes. Sud- 
denly, the voice seemed smothered, and was so managed as 
to sound as if retreating beneath the deck, each moment be- 
coming more distant, and ultimately giving the idea of being 
many feet below the cabin, when it ceased entirely. His 
wife now informed me, that the conjurer had dived under 
the ship, and that he would send up Tornga. Accordingly 
in about half a minute, a distant blowing was heard, very 
slowly approaching, and a voice, which differed from that we 
at first had heard, was at times mingled with the blowing, un- 
til at length both sounds became distinct, and the old woman 
told me, Tornga was come to answer my questions. I ac- 
cordingly asked several questions of the sagacious spirit, to 
each of which I received an answer by two loud slaps on the 
deck, which I was given to understand were favourable. A 
very hollow, yet powerful voice, certainly much different 
from that of the conjurer's, now chanted for some time, and 
a strange jumble of hisses, groans, shouts, and gabblings like 
a turkey, succeeded in rapid order; when the spirit asked 
permission to retire. The voice then gradually sank from 
our hearing as at first, and a very indistinct hissing succeed - 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 107 



ed, (in its advance it sounded like the tone produced by the 
wind on the base chord of an Eolian harp,) this was soon 
changed to a rapid hiss like that of a rocket, and the conju- 
ror with a yell announced his return." 

Henry {Travels, 168,) describes nearly the same perform- 
ances among the Chippeways, and Falkner [Description of 
Patagonia,) among the Indians of the Straits of Magellan. 

From these accounts, we may understand the practices of 
the wizzards* mentioned in the scripture; whom the prophet 
Isaiah {chap, vii 19th, xxix. 4th,) says, "peep and mutter, 
whose speech seemed to rise out of the ground, and to whis- 
per out of the dust." 

In general, the profession of conjurer pertained to the 
men, but among some of the South American nations, the 
Abipones of Brazil, for instance, [Southey' > s Hist. Braz. Hi. 
400, &c.) there were female conjurers, w T ho were more nume- 
rous, and of greater estimation than the men. 

Though almost every thing of remarkable character or ap- 
pearance, received a religious or rather superstitious homage 
from the American Indians, yet, on the whole, there were few- 
idolatrous representations among them, and when they un- 
dertook to make figures of their deities, they were sufficiently 
rude and frightful. Purchas, {Pilgrims, iv. 1701,) gives the 
following description of an idol worshipped in Virginia. "The 
chief god of the Virginians is the devil, him they call Oke, and 
serve him more of fear than love. In their temples, they have 
his image eviUfavouredly carved, and then painted and adorned 
with copper chains and beads, and covered with a skin in 
such a manner as the deformity may well suit with such a 
god." 

Similar figures are described in various other parts of 
North America. 

The Creeks have at one of their war towns, a carved sta- 
tue of wood, which they undoubtedly worshipped or rever- 
enced; though Adair, {American Indians, 22,) denies that 
they considered it as a deity, but that it was designed to per- 
petuate the memory of some hero. I think it very possible^ 

* The Wizzards of the scriptures, or those with familiar spirits, are called 
by thelxx. Eyyatfrpi^u&o^ belly speakers, or ventriloquists. Our English trans- 
lators of the Bible, Le.vit. chap, xx 27 v. have mistaken the proper sense of 
the Hebrew words. Instead of the version, "a man or a woman that hath a 
familiar spirit shall be surely put to death," it should be, "a man or a wo- 
man, if there shall have been with them a wizzard;" (ventriloquist) i. e. if 
they shall have consulted one, shall be put to death. The law was levelled 
against those who resorted to such superstitious and infidel practices; from 
very evident reason, for God himself was their governor and king, Se& 
Shuckford's Connexions, book 9th, on this subject at length, 



108 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



that this statue originally belonged to some of the deiui-civii- 
ized people of Florida, for such figures were observed by 
Soto, and in after times by Du Pratz, among those nations. 

Columbus, (Pink Jim. Voy. ii. 84,) describes the Hai- 
tiens as having some stone idols called by them cemies, which 
were about a foot long. Ke also describes others, so placed 
that the caciques could hide behind them, and delude their 
simple subjects, by causing their voices to proceed apparent- 
ly from the idol. 

In the island of Barbadoes, (Edward's W. Indies, i. 51,) 
some fragments of Indian idols made of clay have been found. 
The head alone, of one of these weighed sixty pounds. 

In South America, the Indians appear to have had less of 
religion, or at least fewer of the externals of superstition, than 
those of the north; and hence it is a common observation of 
travellers, that they had no religion at all. In South Ame- 
rica from the La Plata to the Orinoco, says Southey, (Hist. 
Brazil, i. 204,) the savages had generally no other idols 
than gourds or calabashes, ornamented with feathers, &c. 
and containing a few stones, which rattled when shaken. 
These idols were called Maraca, and were considered capa- 
ble of fortelling future events. 

Lery, (Purchas, iv. 1339,) describes the Maraca, but de- 
nies positively, that they were worshipped as idols. I pre- 
sume, therefore, they are to be regarded chiefly as talismans, 
or as magical instruments. 

In some instances, however, wooden idols were observed 
in parts of Brazil and Paraguay. (Southey' 's Hist. Braz. i. 
136, 598, 620.) The same author also reports, that the 
bones of the conjurers, were preserved after death as objects 
of worship. (Hist. Brazil, ii, 371.) 

Humboldt (Pers. Nar. v. 273) says, that the botuto, a 
kind of earthen trumpet, is held sacred among the tribes on 
the Oronoco. It has its peculiar mysteries, to which per- 
sons are initiated by some painful ordeals. This trumpet, 
when sounded under fruit, trees, has the effect of making 
them produce largely; at least the priests or conjurers say 
so, and are paid for thus using it. 

Garcilazo de la Vega (Roy. Comment, 119,) tells us, that 
some of the Indians inhabiting the Andes adjacent to Peru, 
worshipped the Jaguar and large serpents, as their gods. I 
question the correctness of this observation; but if true, I 
consider it a singular and insulated circumstance. 

From Skinner (Present state of Peru, 273, &c. ) we learn 
that the Indians of Manoa, &c. have practices in their reli- 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



109 



gious system similar to those of the northern tribes, as well 
as an analogous faith. They admit of a good and evil prin- 
ciple, but pay them little homage except in times of dan- 
ger or calamity. They also have conjurers among them, who 
practice all the knaveries of the craft. 

The Schamans of Siberian Tartary, the conjurers of Lap- 
land, and the Obi men of Africa, are exactly like the Ame- 
rican conjurers, exhibiting similar practices, which obvi- 
ously arise from their equal state of rudeness and barba- 
rity; and which, though modified by climate and manner of 
living, have the same effects. Thus, the conjurers of Ame- 
rica, possess in a less degree only, the power of the Obi men of 
Africa, for the unhappy being who has excited their ven- 
geance, often pines to death under the imaginary fear of 
their supernatural power. (Hearne's Journey, &c. 221.) 
Charlevoix (Hist. Parag. i, 205,) describes the same con- 
sequences among the Guaranies of Brazil and Paraguay. 

It is to the conjurers that we attribute those rude paint- 
ings and sculptures observed on certain rocks in different 
parts both of North and South America, and which have 
been regarded by the Indians with superstitious veneration. 
Henepin (Travels, 135) describes one on the Mississippi, 
consisting of some figures made with red paint, to which the 
Indians were accustomed to offer tobacco, &c. when passing 
by in their canoes. 

Lewis and Clark (Expedition, i. 10, 11, 113; ii. 388,) 
describe several such on the Missouri. One, in particular, 
among the Ricaras, is visited by them for the purpose of divi- 
ning future events. Mackenzie, in the course of his travels, 
(Voy. lxxiv. ) mentions several others which also receive re- 
ligious homage from the adjoining Indians. In short, I have 
seen accounts of them all over North America. 

In some instances these figures are engraved or cut into 
the rock, in a manner sufficiently rude. The one perhaps 
most notorious, is that on Taunton river, in Massachusetts, 
known by the name of the Dighton rock; concerning which, 
some very strange theories have been formed. To my eyes 
it differs in nothing from the painted rocks, except that the 
figures are rudely scratched or cut into the rock, which is 
but an immaterial difference. There are at least six such 
rocks in New England.* Others are found in various parts 

* First, the one on Taunton river; second, at Tiverton; third, at Rutland, all 
in Massachusetts; fourth, one near Newport, Rhode Island; fifth, at Scaticook, 
on the Housatonic, (Connecticut;) sixth, at Brattleborough, (Vermont.) 

15 



110 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



of the United States,* and are also met with in numerous 
instances in South America. (Humboldt's Research, i. 177; 
Pers. Nar. iv. 499; Roster's Travels, i. 124, &c. &c.) 

I consider the inscription copied by Maupertius in his 
Journey to Lapland, {Pink. Voy. i. 254) from a rock near 
Torneo, to be of similar intention on the part of the Lap- 
land conjurers. 

The execution of such works, is a matter of no great dif- 
ficulty even to Indians; for the miserable natives of New 
Holland, [White's Voy. 141,) also cut figures of men, wo- 
men, fish, and various animals, upon the surfaces of large 
stones. 

In like manner, I presume, we must ascribe to the conjur- 
ers, the few sculptured impressions of human feet on rocks, 
that have been observed in certain parts of America; and 
which from analogous impositions in the Eastern continent, 
were no doubt asserted to mark a spot sacred to some divi- 
nity, whose presence had been thus miraculously acknow- 
ledged by the solid rock. 

Within a few years, the discovery of the impression of 
two feet on a limestone rock, containing shells and other 
marine substances, near St. Louis, state of Missouri, has been 
made public in our newspapers and journals, which some 
persons have gravely supposed, testifies to the induration of 
that rock since some individual had stood on the spot. If 
civilized men can thus deceive themselves, we may easily 
suppose it to have been a successful imposition among rude 
Indians. 

In an account of Virginia, (Hist, by a native, 182) it is said, 
"by the falls of James river, about a mile from the river, lies 
a rock, wherein are fairly impressed, several marks like the 
footsteps of a gigantic man, each step being about five feet 
asunder; these the Indians aver to be the track of their 
God." 

Clavigero (Hist. Mexico, ii. 15) says, that not only marks 
of human feet cut into stones have been found in that king- 
dom, but likewise those of animals, the purpose of which he 
was at a loss to conjecture. But any one who reflects upon 
the veneration that was paid to such works, can easily appre- 
ciate the motive. However, it is an ancient imposture, and is 

* There are others in the state of Ohio, two miles below Indian or King's 
creek. On the Altamaha, in Georgia. On the Alleghany, fifteen miles be- 
low Benango. On the Cumberland river, &c.; this list, as well as that in 
the preceding note, is given in the Memoirs of the Araer. Acad, of Arts and 

Sciences, iii. 175. 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. Ill 



recorded by Herodotus, ii. 257, to have been known among 
the Scythians, who shew on a rock, the impression of the foot 
of Hercules.* In many parts of India, the natives shew im- 
pressions of the feet of their gods. (Jis. Res. vi. 295.) One 
marked in a most curious and inhuman-like manner, is depict- 
ed in Symes' Embassy to Ava. 

In China, near the Great wall, the natives still shew the 
impressions of the feet of one of their gods called, by a Hin- 
doo traveller, Data'tre'ya, or Datta. (As. Res. vi. 483.) 

Among the more sedentary Indian nations, a building was 
set apart for religious purposes, in which the apparatus of 
the chief conjurer was kept, together with some rude idols 
of wood or clay. 

The Narraganset Indians, who were in some respects su- 
perior to the other tribes of New England, had a temple, 
in which a fire was kindled; and the people, at stated times, 
cast into the fire, by the hands of their conjurers or priests, 
whatever articles they esteemed valuable. (Purchas' Pilg. 
iv. 1868.) This temple was said to have been spacious. 

The Indians of Virginia, also had their temples, which 
were simply huts or cabins of larger size than their ordina- 
ry habitations, and nothing singular in their construction. 
They were sometimes decorated with rude carvings and 
paintings, which, it is possible, had some signification under- 
stood by them. They probably, contemplated maintaining 
in these buildings a perpetual fire, (Hist, of Virginia, by a 
native, 166,) as was done among the demi-civilized Natchez; 
&c. The North American nations who erected temples of a su- 
perior construction, were those of Mexico, Louisiana, or Flo- 
rida; and those nations on the N. W. coast visited by Mac- 
kenzie and other travellers, whose architectural superiority 
to other barbarous tribes, we have, in a general way, related 
in a preceding page. 

At Coxe's channel, (N. W. coast) Marchand (Voyages, i. 
409) describes "a temple standing on an elevated spot, sur- 
rounded by strong posts, six or eight feet high, in which are 
preserved all the tall trees that are there growing, but all the 
shrubs are carefully torn up, and the ground is every where 
put in order and well beaten. In the midst of this enclo- 
sure, where a cave is sometimes made, is seen a square and 
uncovered edifice, constructed with handsome planks, the 
workmanship of which is admirable; and a stranger cannot 

* Diod. Sic. lib. iv. chap. 1, says, that there are impressions of the feet of 
Hercules and his oxen, to be seen in Sicily. 



112 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



behold without admiration, that these planks are twenty-five 
feet in length, by four in breadth, and two and a half inches 
in thickness." 

At the island of St. Catherine, on the coast of California, 
Torquemada (Venegas Hist. Calif, i. 105) states, "was a 
temple with a large level court, where the Indians performed 
their sacrifices. The place of the altar was a large circular 
space, with an enclosure of feathers of several birds of differ- 
ent colours, which I understood were those of birds which 
they sacrificed in great numbers; and within the circle, was 
an image, strangely bedaubed with a variety of colours, re- 
presenting some devil, according to the manner of the In- 
dians of Mexico, holding in its hand a figure of the sun and 
moon." 

At the time the Spaniards visited this temple, they killed 
two large crows that were about the enclosure, which threw 
the Indians into great alarm; for they believed their Deity 
spoke to them by means of these birds. 

Though I presume the barbarous tribes of South Ame- 
rica, had rude temples like those we have described 
3mong the Indians of North America, they were either so 
few, or so little regarded by travellers, that I have been un- 
able to meet with any description of them. Southey 
[Hist. Br'az. iii. 185, 206, 395) incidentally takes notice of 
temples among the savages of Brazil, but does not describe 
them. 

The account given by Charlevoix (Hist. Parag. i. 110) 
of the temple of the Xarayes, in which a large serpent was 
worshipped, is discredited by every judicious historian. 

Certain places among the N. American tribes had a sacred 
character, were consecrated to peace, and where it was un- 
lawful to shed blood. The Apalucha town of the Creek na- 
tion, which was the capital of their confederacy, was of this 
character. (Bartram's Travels, 389.) 

The banks of a creek, known by the name of Pipe creek, 
which falls into the Great Sioux river, is also consecrated by 
the adjoining nations to peace. (Lewis and Clark's Exped. 
i. 49; Carver's Trav. 62.) It derives that character from the 
circumstance of its waters flowing through cliffs of red rock, 
of which the Indians make their pipes; (I presume the calu- 
met,) and the necessity of procuring that article, has intro- 
duced a kind of national law, by which the banks of the 
creek have been made sacred. Tribes at war with each other, 
meet without hostility at these quarries, which possess a 
right of asylum. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES, 



113 



The medicinal springs near the sources of the Wachita 
river, in the Arkansas territory, have likewise a sacred cha- 
racter, and though enemies in war, the Indians there meet as 
friends. Hence the country to a certain distance around, 
was called the "land of peace." {Warden's Stat. Hist. 
U. S. iii. 135.) 

These facts so interesting to humanity, as restraining the 
cruel ravages of barbarous warfare, seem to have been pecu- 
liar to North America; for I have met with nothing analo- 
gous in the history of South America, nor in that of any 
rude people of the eastern continent, excepting perhaps, 
some limited spots in the Friendly islands. {Mariner's 
Descrip. 81, 149.) 

The asylums of Greece, and cities of refuge of the Jews, 
were for the protection of criminals only, and not to arrest 
the fury and destruction of war. 

Of the Burial of the Dead, among Barbarous Indian 

Tribes. 

Though the ceremonies used at burials among the aborigi- 
nal tribes of America, cannot be considered, strictly speak- 
ing, of a religious nature, yet as the immortality of the soul, 
was for the most part directly signified in the ceremonials of 
their act of interment, it occurs to us, that what we have to 
say upon this subject, properly follows the preceding sec- 
tion. 

As they considered the future life to be like the present, 
excepting a great mitigation of its inconveniencies, they 
buried their dead with those implements or utensils they 
had been accustomed to use when alive, and which were 
supposed to serve their requirements in the world of spirits, 
that they imagined to be situated in some remote country of 
the earth. The ceremony of burial was generally accompa- 
nied by those manifestations of grief, which even the rudest 
cannot restrain, when endeared friends and relations, are 
for ever taken from their eyes; but neither prayer nor sacri- 
fice were offered at such times. Occasionally, an eulogium 
was pronounced on the deceased, {Schoolcraft's Travels, 
398,) but perhaps as this authority is recent, the practice has 
been indirectly copied from the custom of the whites around 
them. 

Some tribes of Brazil and Paraguay, are said to hurry 
their dead to their interment as soon as possible, and with 
apparent marks of brutal disregard. {Southey's Hist. Braz. 
iii. 393.) But their conduct in this particular, originates in 
a superstitious fear of the ghost of the person deceased. 



114* 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



They expressed their grief for the loss of their friends, by 
cutting off their hair, painting their faces black, and by ab- 
staining from the use of personal decorations, for a greater or 
less period of time. In the first moments of their affliction, 
they almost universally lacerated their flesh, and inflicted 
various wounds on themselves, thrusting arrows through 
their limbs, &c. (Carver's Travels, 264; Lewis and Clark's 
Exped. i. 89.) Azara, ii. 25, says, that he has seen some of 
the Paraguay tribes, lacerate themselves with knives, &c. in 
a shocking manner. 

It was a very general practice among the barbarous tribes, 
to cut off a joint of their little fingers, on such occasions. 
This practice has been observed 1sy travellers in'almost eve- 
ry part of America. 

For some time after interment, provisions of various kinds 
were exposed on the grave, for the subsistence of the invisi- 
ble spirit; who was believed to haunt the adjacent spot for a 
certain period before departing to the world of spirits. 

Both in N. and S. America, the most usual manner of ar- 
ranging the corpse, was to place it in the grave in a sitting 
position, and I believe without regard to its facing any par- 
ticular part of the heavens. None of the North Americans 
used a coffin, but some of the South American tribes buried 
their dead in large earthen jars. (Southey's Hist. Braz. iii. 
165, 619; Humboldt's Pers. Nar. v. 618.) 

If the deceased was a person of distinction, a mound of 
earth was often erected over him, which practice still exists 
among the tribes beyond the Mississippi. Lewis and Clark 
(Expedition i. 43,) describe one of this kind, recently made 
over a Maha chief, of twelve feet diameter at the base, and 
six in height, with a pole eight feet high, rising from the 
centre. 

Burning the dead, does not seem to have been practised by 
the Indians except in a very partial manner. Father Creux, 
a Jesuit missionary, in Canada, in the year 1639, says, (His- 
toria Canadensis, 94,) that the Hurons, (Wyandots) burned 
the flesh and membranes, which they cut from the bones of 
persons that had been drowned; but the skeleton was buried. 

Vancouver (Voy. iii. 182, 242) observed in two instances, 
that the natives on the N. W. coast burned their dead; but 
this may have been done, to prepare the bones for a distant 
burial. 

Venegas (Hist. California, i. 104,) says, the Californian 
Indians bury or burn their dead, indifferently, choosing 
whether the one or the other be most convenient. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



115 



Some tribes, exposed their dead upon scaffolds until no- 
thing but' the skeletons remained, which were then taken to 
some particular place, often at a great distance, which was 
consecrated as the national burial ground. This was the 
practice of the Sioux, (Pike's Exped. 24; Carver's Travels, 
263,) and other North American tribes. 

The Chocktaws, after preparing the bones as above de- 
scribed, painted the skull, and preserved them in chests or 
boxes, in a house called the bone house. After a certain 
number had been collected, they were buried in a common 
grave, and a mound raised over them. (Bossu's Trav. 298; 
Bar tram, 516.) 

Some of the North American tribes, as the Six Nations 
and Wyandots, according to Charlevoix, (Canada, 278,) about 
every eight or ten years, disinter their dead, who had been 
buried in different parts of the country, and carry them to 
a place of general and final deposite. The manner in which 
this last inhumation was made, is described with much spirit 
by father Creux. (Historia Canadensis, 97.) Having 
brought their dead together, they first dug a pit thirty feet 
in diameter, and ten in depth, which was paved at the bot- 
tom with stones, and after several days of preparation and 
savage rites, which he details at length, the various skele- 
tons were laid down in the pit, to rest for ever. Over the 
whole, a mound was raised, by throwing in the earth they 
had dug out, together with rubbish of every kind. 

The nations of South America, from the country watered 
by the Orinoco to Patagonia, had their national burial places. 
Some were in caves, as that of the Atures, (Humboldt's 
Pers. Nar. v. 618,) where each skeleton was enclosed in an 
earthen jar. Other tribes seem to have committed their dead 
simply to the earth. (Jizara, ii. 25, 31, 118; Southey, Hist. 
Braz. iii. 405; Falkner's Descrip. Patag., 118.) This last 
writer says, the people of Patagonia, will sometimes carry 
the bones of their dead three hundred miles, to the place of 
interment. 

Among the Brazilian tribes, it was not an uncommon 
practice to put persons to death, to serve their chiefs in the 
other world. (Gumilla, Hist. Orinoque, i. 317; Charle- 
voix, Hist. Parag. i. 91.) None of the northern tribes, 
except the Natchez seem to have done this. 

It was a pretty universal custom among the American In- 
dians, to dry the bodies of their deceased kings and chiefs, 
and to preserve them in this state for a long time, in certain 
buildings or temples. This was practiced by the Indians of 



116 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



Virginia and Maryland, (Purchas, iv. 1701,) the people of 
Haiti, (EdicarcPs W. L i. 73.) those of Cumana and Guiana; 
(Purchas, v. 89S,) besides many others of the barbarous 
tribes. These dessicated bodies are occasionally exhibited to 
the public under the term of Indian mummies. They are not, 
however, in any instance that I have met with, embalmed in 
the least degree, and have been simply preserved, by being 
deposited in saltpetre caves, and other peculiar soils. 

Some of the Brazilian tribes, eat their deceased relations, 
from motives of piety and affection. (Southey' 's Hist. Braz. 
i. 379.) Others made a paste of the powdered bones of their 
deceased friends which they eat. To offer this bread to a 
stranger, was the highest mark of their esteem. Some other 
tribes mixed the ashes of the bones with water, and drank 
them. {Southey' } s Hist. Braz. iii. 204, 722.) Garcilazo de 
la Vega, (Roy. Comment. 9,) says the ancient Peruvians eat 
their deceased parents. 

This extraordinary practice has been in use in different 
parts of the eastern continent, and under a more unnatural 
appointment. Thus the Battas of Sumatra, not only eat their 
deceased parents, but previously killed them when old and 
weary of life. Herodotus asserts the Paday or Padaioi of 
Asia, did the same.* (As. Res. x. 203.) 

In almost every part of the eastern continent, we meet 
with practices and superstitions respecting the interment of 
the dead, analogous to those used by the rude American tribes, 
and which are perhaps altogether referrible to their similar 
belief, that the future life was only an amelioration of their 
condition, and not affecting their inclinations, or altering the 
occupations they had followed in the present world. There- 
fore, the dead among all barbarians, are interred with those 
things that were serviceable or agreeable to them when alive; 
and the practice is so notoriously common, that it would be 
useless to adduce particular instances. 

The custom of tearing the hair, and lacerating the flesh, is 
equally extensive, and requires no proof. Not only all rude 
tribes, but even some civilized nations of antiquity, inflicted 
severe wounds on themselves, during their mourning for 
their deceased friends. The only instance in which an anal- 
ogy can be perceived to the practices of the American sava- 
ges, is the one, in which a joint of the fingers is amputated, 
this strange custom, which we should consider so senseless 

•Herodotus describes the Callatiae and Isedoucs, also, as being in the prac- 
tice of eating their deceased parents and friends. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



117 



as to hardly expect it would be tolerated even in a single na- 
tion, has prevailed in various parts of the world. 

The dead, among the rude nations of the eastern continent, 
were generally buried in a supine position, though some na- 
tions did place the corpse in a sitting posture. The Nassa- 
mones of Africa are mentioned by Herodotus, ii. 346, for 
this peculiarity. Some of the Tartar nations, and the ancient 
inhabitants of the Orkney islands, also had this practice, as 
may be inferred from Pennant's description. (Introd. to 
Arctic Zool. 38.) 

No practice has been more universal, than that of erecting 
a mound or tumulus over the dead, this custom has been ob- 
served all over the world. 

Many nations of Asia, preserved the bodies of their deceas- 
ed friends like the American Indians, by simply drying them. 
The natives of Formosa and Corea, the ancient Colchians, 
&e. (Forster's Observ. 563; Malte-Brurts Geog. book 43.) 
Some of the Tartar tribes, (Pickart. Relig. Ceremonies, iv. 
366,) have been also remarked for this practice. 

The mountaineers of Tipra in Hindostan, dry the bodies 
of their deceased friends, on a stage raised over a fire, "and 
preserve the bones for superstitious means of augury." (As. 
Res. ii. 192.) 

We do not take notice of the customs of the Egyptians, or 
the ruder process of the Guanches of the Canary islands in 
this particular, as these people embalmed their dead, which 
1 have no reason to believe was ever done by any American 
people. 

Of the Division of Time, and Astronomical knowledge, 
among the Barbarous Indians of America. 

The calendars of the ruder American tribes, were of the 
most imperfect kind, being only an uncertain division into 
moons, without any ingenuity. Some writers, {Carver's 
Trav. 160,) speak of their intercalating a moon or month 
occasionally, but I have seen nothing to justify this supposi- 
tion. In the first place, what should make them solicitous to 
regulate their year according to solar or lunar motions, and 
in the second place, how could they accomplish such a pur- 
pose? An intercalation requires repeated observations and at= 
tempts at accuracy, which is entirely inconsistent with the 
state of society which prevailed among the savage tribes of 
America. The people of Quito, who lived under the line, 
naturally enough, observed the difference between the sha- 
16 



118 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



dows falling from perpendicular objects, according as the 
sun's declination was north or south, and did in part, regulate 
their year by this phenomenon. The Peruvians, also, made a 
kind of azimuth observation to the same effect; but these 
were demi-civilized nations, and if they who were so much 
superior to the savage tribes, had only been able to go thus 
far, I think we may safely infer, the others had not even ta- 
ken the first steps. 

Baron Humboldt {Research, i. 407,) says, however, the 
people of Nootka sound have months of twenty days each; 
fourteen of which constitute their year; to which by very 
complex methods, they add a great number of intercalary 
days. 

To explain this statement, if indeed it be correct, we must 
imagine that some connexion anciently existed between these 
people, and the Tolteck or Mexican race, with whom the 
month or period of twenty days, was an important division 
of time: and it may have been continued in its present im- 
perfect use, among the natives of that particular part of the 
North West Coast, from ancient recollection. 

In a similar way, the Creeks have retained some of the in- 
stitutions of the ancient demi-civilized Natchez. 

Every where among the barbarous tribes, the moons or 
months, took their names either from the peculiar employ- 
ment of the season, or from the natural phenomena observed 
at such times; and which of necessity varied with every 
climate. 

They had no division of time into weeks, nor have the 
days any particular names. {Charlevoix, 299.) 

It is said that the North American Indians, count their 
time by nights, and not by days, which I believe is tolerably 
correct. This custom, which has been sometimes consider- 
ed of Jewish derivation, was common among the ancient 
Germans, and was taken notice of by Tacitus. (Mor. Germ. 
chap, xi.) "Nec dierum numerum ut nos sed noctium com- 
putant." We still observe this practice of our Saxon ances- 
try, when we say this day se'n night, i. e. seven night, fort- 
night or fourteen nights, &c. 

The Indians, in all probability, designated the more bril- 
liant constellations of the heavens, by names derived from 
their superstitions or their labours. Humboldt (Pers. Nar* 
v. 149,) mentions, the South American Indians thus distin= 
guishing Orion, the southern cross, &c. 

Condamine [Pink. Voy* iv. 234,) says that some of the 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 119 



Indians on the river Amazon, call the Hyades, in the head of 
the bull, the jaw of the Tapir. 

Heckewelder and Carver both state, that the northern In- 
dians know the pole star, and direct their journeys by it on 
certain occasions. 

Charlevoix (Canada, 297,) tells us, the Six nations call 
the Pleiades, "the male and female dancers." 

Gumilla says, the Indians on the Orinoco distinguish the 
Pleiades by a particular name, and commence their year with 
their cosmical rising. (Hist. deV Orinoque, iii. 255.) This 
fact, however, I very much doubt. 

Of Government, and Law, among the Barbarous Indian 

Tribes. 

The state of society among the barbarous Indians of Ame- 
rica, required the surrender of little, if of any personal liberty 
to the general good; and though they are said to have laws 
and government, yet these words give no adequate idea of 
the actual state of their social compact. It is indeed a diffi- 
cult matter for us to appreciate even the principles by which 
they determined their nationality; for citizenship does not 
seem to have been acquired by birth in any particular land 
or country; and though the speaking of a common language 
might give a stronger claim, yet this alone does not seem to 
have been sufficient. The only principle that occurs to us, 
by which the nationality of any individual was admitted, 
was his connexion by blood or by adoption with other indi- 
viduals, who had been from their earliest remembrance, 
considered as constituting a part of the nation. Hence, a 
tribe may be considered as an association of relatives and 
kindred, and the nation, a general though loosely united so- 
ciety of tribes, who recognized in each other relations and 
kindred of distant degrees. This is countenanced by the 
terms, with which one tribe distinguishes another, such as 
grandfather, uncle, &c. implying a greater or less degree of 
consanguinity.* 

*As the Indians sometimes applied these terms of uncle, nephew, &c. to 
tribes who spoke a language radically different, I am inclined to think they 
were then used from courtesy alone, as the word cousin, is employed among 
the European monarchs. Charlevoix, (Canada, 201,) in speaking of the in- 
tercourse between individuals, says, they never call a man by his proper 
name, and if there is no relationship between them, they use the term of 
brother, uncle, nephew or cousin, according to each other's age, or accord- 
ing to the estimation, in which they hold the person they address. It is 
therefore a very natural course, to apply the same terms to nations, though 
of a different stock. 



120 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



They had certain hieroglyphic marks, by which the dif- 
ferent tribes were distinguished from each other, and in all 
likelihood the chief end of the punctures, with which they 
marked themselves, was originally for this purpose; (Hist, 
of Virginia, by a Native, 161,) though in after times, they 
made them subservient for manifesting their achievements in 
war, or even for simple decoration. In like manner, I con- 
sider the totem of the more northern tribes, to be nothing 
but a badge, distinguishing the different tribes; in which 
they have assumed a distinction derived from various ani- 
mals, instead of the arbitrary and more uncertain hierogly- 
phics of some other tribes. 

There are some curious anomalies observable in the form 
of government among the barbarous Indian tribes. On the 
one hand, their theory was undoubtedly monarchical, and on 
the other, their practice was licentiously democratic. As 
our observation applies to them generally throughout the 
continent, it may be supposed that many shades of difference 
prevailed; which we shall slightly mention in the course of 
our investigation; but as a general proposition, our statement 
is undoubtedly correct. Generally speaking, the democra- 
tic feature was the most evident; for as respects the actual 
government of the barbarous Indians, we can scarcely say 
they had any, for apparently there were no persons avow- 
edly at their head, to rule or direct their general affairs. 
They had neither an executive, nor judiciary; and the le- 
gislative department, consisted of any among themselves 
who by experience or assurance claimed a seat. Their 
councils, in great measure analogous to our republican town 
meetings, assembled only on particular emergencies, when 
they discussed the subject that thus immediately affected 
them. In general, the tribe or nation supported the 
views of the council, from a sense of the justness or expe- 
diency of the measure, and acted accordingly, though in- 
stances have occurred, in which a separation of the tribe 
into two distinct parts, arose from the difference of their 
opinions. 

As they had no public treasury, no one received any com- 
pensation for his services. Every man acted as he pleased, 
and consumed the produce of his hunting or labour, without 
tythe or tax; and went to w T ar or staid at home, without im- 
peachment of his patriotism, though it affected his personal 
reputation as a man. 

Laws they had none; but their usages and customs, were 
for the most part founded on principles of equity and jus- 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



101 



tice. In cases of difference and dispute, their friends arbi- 
trated between them by friendly counsel and advice; or per- 
haps occasionally, by their personal influence of character. 

In some rare instances a kind of police officer was autho- 
rised to keep the peace.* 

Many persons may wonder how the Indians thus lived to- 
gether without laws and civil regulations, but they forget 
that the law of public opinion, prevails among them as 
it does with civilized nations, and it implies but a very sorry 
state of things among us, to suppose that we are only re- 
strained from committing fraud and violence, in consequence 
of our penal laws. Indeed it would be well for us, had 
public opinion less control, and not authorise acts not only 
contrary to human statutes, but even avowedly against the 
commandments of God. 

With the Indian, therefore, the countenance of his friends 
implied every thing gratifying to his feelings and pride; for 
who can bear the slight or contempt of his friends and 
equals. Even the most unprincipled sink under it to that 
degree, that our experience justifies the truth of the pro- 
verb, that there is honour among thieves to each other, who 
have none towards the rest of the world. From what we 
have said it will therefore appear very natural, that injuries 
were punished or retaliated by the injured party, in a manner 
that custom and usage justified, under the ban of public 
opinion. 

Thieves were compelled to make restitution; and in de- 
fault, the nearest relations were at times required to make 
good the loss. 

Murder was commonly punished by death, inflicted by 
the hand of the kindred of the deceased. I believe a com- 
promise by payments or gifts seldom or never took place. 
Sometimes a captive taken in war was accepted as a compen- 
sation: he was however adopted into the family of the de- 
ceased, whose situation he filled in every respect, (Charle- 
voix, 188.) 

These two crimes alone, seem to have certain penalties 
affixed to them, and in fact, are the only ones their state of 
society occasioned or permitted, that can be proportionably 
punished. Adultery in a woman without her husband's con- 

* Among the Tetons, one of the Sioux bands, Lewis and Clark, (Exped. i. 
89,) observed a kind of officer who exercised considerable authority in 
maintaining the peace. No resistance is made to him, and his person is sa- 
cred. These officers hold their appointments at the pleasure of the chief. 

A similar officer of the peace is mentioned by Henry, (Travels, 288, 291,) 
as being appointed, at least occasionally, among the Assinipoils by their chiefs. 



122 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



sent, was punished by him or not, as he pleased, and in 
what manner he chose. He sometimes bit off her nose, but 
in general having cut off her hair, she was discarded with 
disgrace. 

It is occasionally said, that the Indians punished witch- 
craft. But this was only when an individual thought him- 
self injured by their sorcerers, and therefore he only aveng- 
ed his private wrong. There was no punishment for merely 
exercising magical arts, for they were distinctly recognized 
among them, as the essential qualification of their conju- 
rers. 

Such was the general state of government among the rude 
tribes of America; which seems for the most part, directly 
consistent with their condition and general barbarity. Yet 
among them other peculiarities existed, which become in- 
teresting to us, as throwing some light upon the origin and 
formation of government. It is usually supposed that go- 
vernments have arisen from a sense of the advantages of mu- 
tual assistance. From such motives a number of free indi- 
viduals are supposed to have associated together, and given 
up a part of their individual liberty, that their general 
rights and happiness might be secured. I am apprehensive, 
however, that the exhibition I am about to make, is not 
very accordant with the theoretic views, that our republican 
writers have generally given on this matter. 

We are all familiar with the term Indian chief, or cacique, 
and that they possessed more or less influence, in the tribe 
or nation to which they belonged. For the most part we 
can easily comprehend, that individuals, remarkable for wis- 
dom and prudence in council, or for skill and bravery in 
war, should become distinguished among their fellows, and 
rise to such eminence in the nation, as to be considered the 
chief men; and this has been the case notoriously among all 
the Indian tribes with which we are acquainted.* But in 

* No one is acknowledged to be a chief among the North American In- 
dians, by any form or ceremony of any kind; the dignity is attained insensi- 
bly to himself and his countrymen. Venegas, (Hist. California, i. 69,) ex- 
plains this matter with great exactness; "the dignity of chief was not ob- 
tained among these people by blood or descent; nor by age, suffrage, or a 
formal election. The necessity of applying for instruction to one or more 
persons in some common exigency, rendered it natural that with a tacit con- 
sent, he who was brave, expert, artful, or eloquent, should be promoted to 
the command ; but his authority was limited to terms imposed by the fancy 
of those, who, without well knowing how, quietly submitted to him. Yet in 
every particular each one was entire master of his liberty." 

Among the Brazilians, before a warrior was admitted to the dignity of a 
chief, he had to give some terrible proofs of his ability to bear pain. (Gu- 
milla, Hist. Orin. ii. 287.) 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



123 



connexion with this fact, there is another not intelligible to 
me, of persons presiding over the Indian tribes as kings or 
princes, and sometimes with considerable state. Nor is this 
all, this dignity appears to have been hereditary, for it is 
sometimes described as being possessed by a child, and at 
other times by a woman. 

It is recorded in the history of Maryland, {Bozman, 
Hist, of Maryland, 271,) at the time of its settlement, 
that, "the Werrowance or king, being an infant, the terri- 
tory was governed by his uncle." 

Cartier {Hackluyt, Voy. iii. 221, 242,) describes a Ca- 
nadian chief from near Montreal, who visited him, borne 
upon men's shoulders. He further says, that the Indians 
have a king in every country, and are "wonderfully obe- 
dient to him." 

Carver {Travels, 20, 166,) describes a woman, presiding 
over the Winnebagoes in virtue of hereditary right. 

Soto {Portuguese Gentleman, 49, 62, 68,) found female 
rulers in Florida, and the Spaniards, to their infamy, put to 
death Anacoana, an eminent female chief in Haiti. {Her- 
vera, Hist. America^ i. 290.) 

Carver, {Travels, 165,) says, "that every band among 
the Sioux and northern Indians, have a chief who is termed 
the great chief, or the chief warrior, and who is selected in 
consideration of his experience in war, to direct all matters 
of a military nature. But this chief is not considered as the 
head of the state, for there is another, who enjoys a pre- 
eminence, as his hereditary right, and has the more imme- 
diate management of their civil affairs. Though these two 
are considered as the heads of the band, and the latter is 
usually denominated their king, yet the Indians are sensible 
of neither civil nor military subordination." 

Charlevoix {Canada, 123, 173, 182,) relates, that here- 
ditary chiefs are recognized by the Wyandots; who if mi- 
nors, have their dignity sustained by a regent, until they are 
of age. This dignity is also hereditary in the female line. 

Smith {Hist. New Jersey, 139,) mentions the same pecu- 
liarities among the Indians of New Jersey; and Pike, 
{Exped. 2d Append. 10, 14.) describes, hereditary chiefs 
among the Osages and Pawnees. 

The same features of hereditary dignity, were discerned 
in the West India islands and South America. Columbus 
{Herrera, i, 63,) describes a very young chief of Haiti, who 
came to see him, carried on a palanquin by his subjects, 
who treated him with the greatest respect. 



124 SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



Charlevoix (Hist. Parag. i. 88,) says, the Guaycurus of 
Brazil have hereditary caciques, who have unlimited authori- 
ty over their subjects; but in this last particular I consider 
him mistaken, and rely more upon the statement of Azara, 
(Voyages, ii. 95,) who says, the Guanas and other nations of 
Paraguay have hereditary caciques, who enjoy, however, no 
exemption from work, or any advantage from their title, ex- 
cept in their council chambers. He also observes, that some- 
times any Indian whatever becomes a cacique, when he has 
sufficient merit to be regarded as a capable man. When such 
is the case, the people withdraw their homage from the an- 
cient chief; and this, he says, is the general custom among 
all the nations of Paraguay. Molina (Hist. Chili, ii. 19, 57,) 
observes, that the dignity of chief is hereditary among the 
Araucanians. 

Falkner (Descrip. Patag. 120,) relates, that among the 
natives of Patagonia, the office of cacique is hereditary, and 
not elective; and that all the sons of a cacique have a right to 
assume the dignity, if they can get any Indians to follow 
them. Nevertheless (page 123,) they have no power to take 
any thing from their subjects, nor can they oblige them to 
serve in the least employment without paying them. 

We have thus throughout America, shewn that the princi- 
ple of hereditary dignity was recognized among so many dif- 
ferent tribes, that I am inclined to think, if we had more full 
and detailed accounts, it would be discerned in the institu- 
tions of every tribe or nation of the continent. Venegas, in- 
deed, (Hist. California, i. 69,) says, the people of California 
had no hereditary chieftains; but such might be easily over- 
looked by persons not very familiar with Indian manners; 
for they received little or no respect except on particular oc- 
casions, while the more popular war chiefs, who were thus 
recognized for their abilities, might be known to have de- 
served their title by their own individual merit. 

I must confess the greatest difficulty, to explain the absur- 
dity of hereditary dignities among barbarous savages. In 
this respect, however, the American Indians are not peculiar, 
for we shall presently shew the same principle, almost uni- 
versally established in all other parts of the world. But 
among the greater number of Indian tribes, the title gives no 
importance, little if any influence, and is attended, as far as 
we can perceive, with no apparent advantage to the possessor. 
Neither can we imagine the usefulness of any such personage 
to the people at large, for wisdom, talents and courage, are 
not hereditary; and if deficient in these particulars, for what 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



125 



else can the individual among savages be esteemed. Yet in 
defiance of all conjecture, the facts are as we have stated them, 
and I can guess at no principle of interpretation. 

Some persons may consider it not an unreasonable hypo- 
thesis, that the son should inherit more or less of his father's 
talents; and that savages might be influenced by such a sup- 
position. But savages easily perceive the merits or defects 
of any individual who attempts to exercise influence among 
them; and generally despise one falling short of their stand- 
ard of excellence. How comes it then, that they can ac- 
knowledge a female as the head of their nation; one who ne- 
ver goes to war, nor performs any of those duties they ought 
naturally to expect from their chieftains? The following ex- 
tract will exhibit the truth of our observation in a remarka- 
ble manner. 

Dobrizhofler [Hist. Abipones, i. 102,) relates, that among 
the Abipones, the eldest son of the cacique succeeds his father; 
but only provided that he be of a good character, of a noble 
and warlike disposition, in short, fit for the office; for if he 
be indolent, ill-natured and foolish, he is set aside, and another 
substituted, who is not related to the former by any tie of 
blood. The name of cacique is certainly a high title among 
the Abipones, but it is more a burthen than an honour, and 
often brings with it greater danger than profit; for they 
neither revere their cacique as a master, nor pay him tribute, 
nor attendance. They invest him neither with the authority 
of a judge, an arbitrator, nor an avenger. If he were but to 
rebuke them for their transgressions, he would be punished 
in the next drinking party, with the fists of the intoxicated 
savages. How often have their chief caciques experienced 
this. How often have they returned from a drinking party 
with swelled eyes, bruised hands, pale cheeks, and faces ex- 
hibiting all the colours of the rainbow." 

After such a relation, who would expect the following state- 
ment which is made by the same writer. [Hist. Abipones, 
ii. 108,) "I must not omit to mention, that the Abipones do 
not scorn to be governed by women of noble birth', for at 
the time that I resided in Paraguay, there was a high-born 
matron, to whom the Abipones gave the title of Nelareycate, 
and who numbered some families in her horde. Her origin, 
and the merits of her ancestors, procured her the venera- 
tion of others." 

For the most part, the nations recognising hereditary dis- 
tinctions, determine the succession by the female line. Car- 
ver {Travels, 16^.) says, that among the northern tribes on 
17 



126 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



the death of a chief, his sister's son succeeds him in prefer- 
ence to his own son; and if he happens to have no sister, the 
nearest female relation assumes the dignity. In this manner 
it happened, that a woman presided over the Winnebagoes, 
when he visted that people. 

An analogous custom of transmitting title by the female 
line, was established among the Wyandots; [Charlevoix Ca- 
nada, 315,) the Arrowacks of Cuba aud Haiti, (Edward's 
W. I. i. 73,) and in general throughout the continent. 

As might be expected, when we have shewn that digni- 
ties were hereditaiy in tribes, so there were also dignities of 
greater eminence hereditary in the nation. Hence among 
the different chiefs, some one had a paramount dignity. This 
feature is more distinguishable among those nations w r e have 
termed demi-civilized, of whom we shall hereafter discourse; 
but as the degrees of barbarity among the Indian nations are 
very different, we can observe the establishment of this prin- 
ciple, among the more numerous and powerful barbarian na- 
tions, and the sensible advances to feudal forms of govern- 
ment. Granganameo, a chief on that part of the coast of 
North Carolina, visited by Amidas and Barlow, (Hackluyt, 
iii. 246, 248,) was of this description, being under the au- 
thority of a superior lord or chief. 

Powhattan, in Virginia, exercised an absolute authority 
over his subordinate chiefs. Smith (Purchas, iv. 1703,) 
says, he was obeyed "not only as a king, but as half a god 
they esteem him; what he commandeth, they dare not diso- 
bey in the least thing." 

The Araucanians, (Molina, Hist. Chili, ii. 57,) divided 
their country into four distinct parts, each of which was go- 
verned by a lord paramount, under the name of Toqui; but 
though this dignity was hereditary, the minor chiefs permit- 
ted him to use but little authority. 

I believe there is no feature in the institutions of govern- 
ment among the American Indians, that can be considered 
peculiar to them; and all the strangeness of hereditary dis- 
tinction among barbarous nations, is to be observed in every 
other part of the world. 

The ancient Germans, who in many remarkable instances 
resemble the American Indians, exhibited a close analogy to 
them in this particular. They had two chiefs presiding over 
them in like manner as the Indians. Tacitus relates "Reges 
ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt." This custom the 
Edinburgh Review (December, 1818,) states, to have an- 
ciently prevailed among the Spaniards until the reign of 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES, 127 



Alonzo: and able critics and antiquarians assign this principle, 
as the origin of the Maires du Palais, of the early French 
monarchy. 

Tacitus further remarks, that the power of the German 
kings was not arbitrary nor unlimited; and that the General 
commands more by warlike example than by authority. 
(Mor. Germ, vii.) Yet he gives us the following remarka- 
ble exception in his account of the Sitones, (Mor. Germ, xlv.) 
"Csetera smiles, uno difFerunt, quod fcemina dominantur; in 
tantum, non modo a libertate, sed etiam a servitute degener- 
ant." In this nation arbitrary power had prevailed so far, 
that the common people were not permitted to carry arms. 

In Britain, says Tacitus, (Vita. Jlgric. xvi.) there is no 
rule whereby females are excluded from the throne, or the 
command of armies, and therefore the Britons did not hesi- 
tate to follow in arms Boadicea, a queen descended from royal 
ancestors. 

Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, is another instance of a 
female presiding over barbarians, a fact or statement well 
known to every reader of ancient history. 

The like state of things existed in Otaheite, as is related by 
Cook in his account of queen Oberea. Female rulers were 
observed also in the Tonga or Friendly islands. (Cook, 
Toy. N. Hem. i. 308; Mariner Tonga Ids. Ill, 155.) 

The barbarous Garrows of India, also recognise female 
chiefs. (J2s. Res. iii. IS.) And female rulers are to be 
found at the present time, in Celebes, and other islands of the 
Indian ocean. (Crawfurd, Ind. Jirchip. i. 74.) 

In what manner does this strange idea of hereditary dis- 
tinction, exert its influence on the minds of barbarians? Is 
it possible to conceive the benefit or advantage that results 
from such a state of things? and yet so firmly established is 
this principle among certain savages, that Mariner (Tonga 
Ids. 128,) says, in the Friendly islands no merit, however 
great, can elevate a common man to the rank of a chief: 
Birth alone confers the distinction. 

As this principle is so universally admitted, we need not 
wonder that a savage nobility display a corresponding pride 
and haughtiness, even where the barbarity of their condition 
would make us least expect it. Nicholas, in the account of 
his voyage to New Zealand, very frequently takes notice of 
the establishment of rank and nobility among the savages of 
that island; and on one occasion gives us the following de- 
scription of the deportment of a chief, who observed him 
cleaning and salting fish: "So very aristocratical was he in 



128 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



his own notions, and such was the mean light in which he 
held all those who employed themselves at any kind of man- 
ual labour, that looking at us with a scornful glance, he sud- 
denly averted his eyes, as if afraid of being degraded by the 
very sight of our work; and exclaimed contemptuously," &c. 
(Voy. to New Zealand, ii. 35.) 

Not inferior in pride, were the nobility among the ancient 
savages of the Canary islands: Glas (Hist. Canaries, 66,) 
informs us, that when a young man claimed his nobility be- 
fore the proper officer, he was rejected among other disquali- 
fications, if he had ever "demeaned himself so far as to have 
dressed victuals, or had even gone to the folds to look after 
the goats or sheep, or if he had been ever known to have 
milked them, &c." 

In like manner with the customs of the American Indians, 
the title to these hereditary dignities, was conveyed by the 
female line among many barbarians of the eastern continent. 
Thus the Picts (Pink. Hist. Scot. i. 261,) choose their kings, 
by the female side in preference to that of the male, alleg- 
ing a greater certainty of the royal blood. 

The Lycians of Asia Minor, (Herodotus, lib. i. chap. 173,) 
and the negroes of Congo, (Malte-Brun, Geog. book 69,) 
followed the same custom. 

From what Ksempher (Hist. Japan, i. 23,) says upon the 
order of succession to the crown of Siam, I presume the like 
rule existed among that people. 

Of Wars among the Barbarous Indians. 

Pride, ambition and avarice, which have scourged the ci- 
vilized world by war, also influence the rude and barbarous 
to increase the misery and unhappiness of each other, with 
every aggravation that malice and cruelty can devise. 
Though such reflections belong more properly to the mor- 
alist than the antiquarian, they are not entirely out of 
place, as prefacing details and researches upon the manner in 
which barbarians carry on their wars. For we do not at 
first sight, perceive how men like the Indians, having so few 
wants, and generally so great an extent of country to sup- 
ply those wants, should be yet almost continually engaged in 
bloody and unmerciful contests with each other.* 

# We must do the Indians the justice to state, that personal rencontres 
very seldom took place among them, and that private assassination was of 
rare occurrence. 

Southey {Hist. Brazil, iii. 3S9, 673,) says, the Guaycurus decided their 
quarrels among themselves by boxing-, never resorting to weapons. Azara, 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 129 



The nature of man, however, is universally the same, not- 
withstanding the difference of climate or intellectual im- 
provement; and be the standard of ambition, avarice or 
pride, fixed at any degree of the moral scale that civilization 
or barbarism may determine, we shall find all the corres- 
ponding passions rising to that height, and influencing our 
conduct. Thus, while it is considered glorious in civilized 
nations, to conquer in war, and destroy thousands in battle; 
by the same influences, the rude Indians regard with admi- 
ration, the warrior who exhibits the most scalps of men, 
women and children, taken by his prowess or stratagem. 

The pride of the civilized man is gratified by the use of 
splendid robes, jewels and insignia of rank and office; and 
the Indian struts about daubed with red paint, and wearing 
the rudest articles which may be considered ornamental in 
the eyes of his tribe. Hence, though the possessions or the 
wants of the Indian appear insignificant to Europeans, they 
are to him, the summum bonum, and he will invade or defend 
in gratification of his wants or desires, with all the earnest- 
ness that human nature can feel upon such occasions. 

The causes that produce war among the Indians, are very 
nearly the same as those that produce this calamity in the ci- 
vilized world. At one time it is to revenge a real or suppo- 
sed injury; at other times it concerns their rights of hunting 
or fishing in particular situations. Or it is to possess them- 
selves of the country of another tribe, that may be prefera- 
ble to their own.* Or it may be to gratify, what is called 
the love of military glory, a passion that constitutes an es- 
sential part of their character, as well as of all other men. 

Generally speaking, the Indians commenced their wars by 
committing some hostility, or doing some damage to the per- 
sons offending them; or if such individuals were out of their 
reach, to their kindred or nation, and the consequences soon 
follow, that the two tribes or nations make the quarrel com- 
mon cause. 

At other times, they notify the enemy of their determina- 

ii. 16, 33, 91, observed the same practice, among several of the Paraguay 
tribes. I have not met with any account of pugilism among the North Ame- 
rican tribes. 

Gumilla (Hist, de V Orinoque, ii. 231) says, that the Indians on the Orino- 
co, not unfrequently poison each other; and Dobrizhoffer, (Hist. Mipones, i. 
80, 83,) incidentally mentions the occurrence of this practice in Paraguay. 

* The Pottawottomies, who lived originally between lake Michigan and the 
Mississippi, sent word to the Miamis, "that they were tired of eating fish, and 
wanted meat;' 1 '' and without waiting for an answer intruded themselves into 
their country. (Sandford's Aborigines, cxvii.) 



130 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



tion, by sending a defiance, either in words, or by a milita- 
ry weapon painted red. 

The war that follows, is a succession of skirmishing, sur- 
prisals, and massacres. As a chief end in their conflicts was 
to save themselves from loss, they seldom engaged in open 
battle, but cautiously advanced on their enemy unsuspicious 
of danger; and then, with horrid yells,* rushed on their 
foes, and slew every one without distinction of age or sex, 
not fortunate enough to make their escape. 

They seldom took the field with a numerous body of men, 
which indeed would be almost impossible, when every war- 
rior had to procure provision by his own exertion or labour. 
We may form a tolerably good idea of an Indian army, when 
it is remembered, that the principal chief, or general of the 
party, if that term be preferred, has to hunt for himself, and 
can only advise with his followers, upon what plan of opera- 
tions they shall pursue. 

Before they departed on a warlike expedition, the North 
American Indians waited for good dreams and favourable 
omens, and if they had even set out, an unhappy dream 
would cause them to return home. Ovale, [Pink. Jlmer. 
Voy. iv. 113,) describes the Indians of Chili on like occa- 
sions, using various superstitions, and observing auguries 
and omens to ascertain the fortune of the enterprise. 

Most of the Indian nations made their young men submit 
to a severe probation of their fortitude, before they were 
permitted to go to war. This was the ceremony called Hus- 
kanauing, among the Virginia Indians. 

The Guaycurus of Paraguay, [Charlevoix Hist. Parag. i. 
SS,) had also a severe trial of the fortitude of their young 
men on such occasions; and in all probability, the terrible 
self lacerations mentioned by Azara, {Voy. ii. 135,) as com- 
mon among the Indians of Paraguay, have their origin from 
similar probationary exercises.! 

It has been a very universal custom with martial and rude 
nations, to admit their youth into the class of grown men 

* These yells or war whoops are not peculiar to the American Indians: 
Tacitus {Mor. Germ. chap. 3,) relates the practice of the Germans in lan- 
guage that exactly describes the Indian custom. He says, "the vociferation 
used upon these occasions is uncouth and harsh, at intervals interrupted by 
the application of their bucklers to their mouths, and by the repercussion, 
bursting out with redoubled force." This is precisely the Indian whoop. 
They raise a loud scream, at the same time clapping the mouth rapidly with 
the open hand. When the expiration is nearly finished, they cease the clap- 
ping with the hand, and collecting all their remaining force, suddenly raise 
the scream an octave higher, and then cease for the moment. 

t "Us ne donnent aucune raison de cette coutume, et disent ingenument 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



131 



with more or less ceremony; and according to their degree 
of civilization, with greater or less cruelty of preparative ini- 
tiation. The Romans, the ancient German nations, and 
even the New Hollanders, (Collins 9 N. S. Wales, 367,) prac- 
ticed similar ceremonies. 
fl The weapons made use of by the Indians in their wars, 
were bows and arrows, spears, clubs, &c. which we shall 
describe in regular order. 

With the exception of the Esquimaux, and people of the 
N. W. coast, who appear to be but indifferent archers, the 
bow generally was of great length and power. The arrow 
was commonly from three to four feet in length, tipped at 
the end with a sharp stone or bone, and occasionally with 
copper. They were also feathered to steady their flight. 

Spears and javelins, were not much used in North Ameri= 
ca, and then only, I believe, among those tribes who were 
accustomed to strike fish with such instruments. Vancou- 
ver, (Voy. iii. 254,) describes some natives of the N. W. 
coast using spears in an attack upon his boats; and Venegas 
(Hist. California, i. S5,) says, the Californians used in 
close engagements, "a kind of wooden spears, with the points 
hardened in the fire." 

The demi-civilized nations^all used spears. 

In South America, the spear or javelin, either armed 
with flint, or hardened by half burning, was much more 
used than in the north. From the mountains of New Grena- 
da, to the river la Plata, (Purchas Pilgrims, iv. 1299, 
1348,) they seem to have been constantly employed in war. 
In some instances, the javelin was fastened by a thong to 
the wrist, which enabled the warrior to draw the weapon 
back, after it had been thrown. (Southey, Hist. Braz. iih 
379.) 

Some of the Indians of Darien, (Herrera, ii. 51,) threw, 
with great force and effect, by "a sort of sling," darts or 
staves, whose points were hardened by fire. The Muyscas of 
New Grenada, (Herrera, v. 86,) are noticed for the same 
contrivance. 

The Tapuyas, and some tribes ' along the river Amazon, 
(Southey, Hist. Braz. i. 620,) threw their darts or javelins 

qu'ils n'en savenl point d'autre que la desir de faire voir qu'ils sont gens de 
courage." (Jlzara.) 

Dobrizhoffer (Hist. Jlbipones, ii. 35,) says, they inflict these terrible wounds 
on their persons, to emulate one another, and to obtain a reputation for bra- 
very. 



132 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



by means of an instrument called b}^ the Spaniards, estolica, 
which it is said was also used by the Peruvians. This 
instrument, or thr owing-stick, as it is sometimes called, is 
described as being flat, between four and five feet long, and 
three fingers broad. At one end a bone rest was fixed, 
against which the end of the javelin was placed. When laid 
along the throwing-stick, the Indian grasping the stick, threw 
the dart from him, which flying off, left the estolica still in 
the hand, and ready to receive another weapon. It is said 
that they could throw their darts with great accuracy by this 
method. 

The Aluetians on the N. W. coast, (Langsdorfs Voy. 
342,) the Esquimaux, {Parry, 2d Voy. 508,) and the Green- 
landers, according to Crantz, used a similar contrivance. It 
is called a "hand board," by the navigators above quoted. 

A similar instrument was.used among the New Zealanders 
of the South Pacific ocean, (Hawksworth, Voy. iii. 259,) for 
throwing their spears. 

The Greeks, (Harwood, Greek Antiq. 292,) anciently 
threw their darts by a strap. 

Many tribes, both in North and South America, used a 
long and hollow reed for projecting small darts or arrows 
by means of the breath. Though this instrument was used 
chiefly in hunting or for amusement, yet it was also occasion- 
ally used, especially in South America, for warlike purposes. 
Bossu (Travels, 306,) notices it among the Chocktaws, and 
gives the following description: "They are very expert," 
says he, "in shooting with an instrument made of a hollow 
reed about seven feet long, into which they put a little ar- 
row, feathered with the wool of the thistle, which they blow 
at small birds." 

This reed was also used in Mexico, and was there called 
cerbottane, which has been corrupted to sarbacane, by which 
appellation it is now generally known. Montezuma com- 
pared the muskets of the Spaniards to this instrument. 

Dampier (Voy. i. 41,) describes the sarbacane, among the 
natives of the Isthmus of Darien; and they were also used 
in Surinam, (Pin/card' s W. Indies, ii. 407,) and Guiana, 
where they became a formidable weapon from the practice 
of poisoning the dart, and the distance to which it could be 
projected. Waterton (Edinburgh Review, Feb. 1826,) says, 
a reed ten or thirteen feet long, would enable a person to 
throw a dart three hundred feet. 

This tube is well known in the islands of the Indian 
ocean, especially in Borneo, and the less civilized islands of 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



133 



the Archipelago. (Raffle's Hist. Java, i. 29 6.) These darts 
are generally poisoned with a vegetable preparation. 

It was a pretty general practice with the Indians inhabit- 
ing the country watered by the Orinoco and the lands ad- 
jacent, to poison their weapons both for purposes of hunt- 
ing and war. It is not easy to say how far this custom pre- 
vailed. Herrera (vi. 35, 236,) describes it to have been 
done in Tucuman in the south west; and in one instance in 
Quito, at Rio de la Hambre; (iii. 373,) and also at Old Gau- 
temala, (iii. 336, 337,) in the north.* The Indians inhabit- 
ing the country between the river Amazons and the moun- 
tains of New Grenada, have been especially distinguished 
for this barbarous practice among themselves. Against the 
Spanish invaders, no practice can be considered barbarous. 

The poison used by these people is known by the name 
of Curare, and is of the most deadly kind, though it does 
not injure the flesh of animals thus killed for the purposes 
of food. It is a vegetable preparation, and the process for 
making it may be seen in Herrera, {Hist. America, i. 
349,) or Humboldt, (Pers. Nar. v. 516.) 

I know of no well authenticated instance of any North 
American Indians poisoning their weapons. In a book en- 
titled Indian Wars in the West, page 181, it is said, that 
the Catawbas on one occasion, to destroy their enemies, 
placed in a path sharp sticks smeared with the poison of the 
rattle-snake; but this seems to me incredible, from the small 
quantity that could be procured even with the greatest in- 
dustry from such reptiles. 

The fact of poisoning the darts used with the sarbacane, 
we have already mentioned as being practised by the islanders 
of the Indian ocean. They also poisoned their arrows. This 
was also done by some of the mountaineers of Hindostan. 
(As. Res. iv. 81, 89.) Tolland (Hist. Druids, 102,) men- 
tions an occasion, when the ancient Britons poisoned their 
arrows used in battle. 

The sling was but little used among the barbarous tribes. 
Egede, (Hist. Greenland, lxiii.) says, it was used by the 
Greenianders, and the Esquimaux employed it against Davis 
in 1585. (Pink. Am. Voy. ii. 191.) 

* Though I have taken notice of the Spanish account, that the Indians 
near Old Guatemala poisoned their darts, as being the most northerly in- 
stance I have met with; yet I am inclined to think it an exaggeration, or 
rather not true in fact. The practice is not mentioned by Bernal Dias, 
who was engaged in the conquest of that country, and who was too vain- 
glorious, to have omitted this circumstance in the enumeration of his per- 
sonal dangers, if it had been practised in that kingdom. 
18 



134 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



Some of the South American tribes at least occasionally 
used the sling. {Southey's Hist. Brazil, iii. 175,) Dobriz- 
hofFer, {Hist. Abipones, ii. 360,) says, incidentally, that the 
Guaranies were expert in the use of this weapon. 

The Indians inhabiting the country adjacent to the river 
La Plata, used a missile weapon peculiar to that part of 
America, which is now called bolas by the Spaniards. Falk- 
ner {Descrip. Patag. 130,) describes it as consisting of two 
or three round stones, each covered with hide, and connect- 
ed together at a common point or centre by as many pieces 
of hide rope, each three or four feet long. The person 
using it whirled these balls around his head, so as to give the 
whole a rotary motion, and then threw them at the parti- 
cular object with such dexterity, as to entangle man or beast 
according to Azara, ii. 46, even at the distance of one hun- 
dred paces. 

Southey [Hist. Brazil, ii. 369,) describes this instru- 
ment, as having been very fatal to the first settlers on the 
La Plata and in Paraguay. The Indians of Paraguay, Pata- 
gonia and Chili, made use of a running noose in their battles, 
which they threw with great dexterity over an enemy, as 
far as thirty or forty paces distant. It is now called lazo by 
the Spaniards, is made of hide rope as thick as the little fin- 
ger, and together with the bolas just described, is constantly 
used in hunting, and not unfrequently in battle at the pre- 
sent day. 

The Peruvians, {Herrera, v. 25,) anciently used this con- 
trivance. It seems to have been confined in America to the 
nations we have mentioned. It was in ancient times used in 
Asia; Herodotus, {Polym. chap. 85,) describes it being em- 
ployed by the Sagartii, one of the Persian tributaries in the 
army of Xerxes. 

The Alans appear to have possessed a similar contrivance; 
for Josephus, [Jewish War, chap. vii. book vii.) describes 
Tiridates king of Armenia, to have been in great danger 
from a net cast over him, from a great distance. 

The Huns, Jaxamati and Parthians, used the lazo, as ap- 
pears from the following description of Ammianus Marceli- 
nus, {Cur a Valesii, 617,} "hostesque dum mucronum noxias 
observant, contortis laciniis illigant, ut laqueatis resistentium 
membris equitandi vel gravandi adimant facultatem." 
\ The tomahawk, which is sometimes considered a weapon 
peculiar to the American Indians, was originally a ciub 
carved into some convenient, shape. It was most commonly 
a stout stick, about three feet in length, terminating in a 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 135 

large knob, wherein a projecting bone or flint was often in- 
serted. The hatchets of the Indians that are now called to- 
mahawks, are of European device, and the stone hatchets so 
often found in our fields, and called by the same term, were 
not military weapons but mechanical tools. // 

The common notion, that the Indians threw their toma- 
hawks in battle at their enemies, is as absurd as to suppose, 
that the pistols of a hussar are thus used, because they may 
be occasionally thrown at an enemy, after being discharged. 
The French call the tomahawk, un casse tele, or 6 'skull 
breaker, 5 ' which emphatically declares its use. 

The Pogamoggon used by several North American tribes, 
was a weapon of similar use, and is thus described by Lewis 
and Clark. (Expedition, i. 425.) "The Shoshonee In- 
dians use an instrument which was formerly employed 
among the Chippeways, and called by them pogamoggon. It 
consists of a handle twenty-two inches long, made of wood, 
covered with leather, about the size of a whip handle. At 
one end is a thong two inches in length, which is tied to a 
round stone, weighing two pounds, and held in a cover of 
leather. At the other end, is a loop of the same material, 
which is passed round the wrist to secure the instrument, 
with which they strike a very severe blow." 

Carver (Travels, 192,) describes a similar kind of wea- 
pon, in use among some tribes west of the Mississippi. 
This is a stone curiously wrought, and fastened by a string a 
yard and a half long to the right arm, a little above the el- 
bow. They swing this stone in battle, in the manner of a 
club, with great dexterity. 

We do not meet with weapons like the pogamoggon else- 
where in America, except in Patagonia; where Falkner 
(Descrip. Patag. 130,) and Azara (ii. 47,) describe it in 
nearly the same words as is done by Carver. 

The Masse d'armes of Roland and Oliver, so famous in 
the history of Charlemagne, was of the same form with the 
pogamoggon, though much heavier. See French Encyclo- 
pedia, art. *j2rmurier. 

There is nothing peculiar in the kind of club employed 
by the American Indians, except among those of Brazil and 
Paraguay, where a heavy and powerful one was used under 
the name of macana; which is thus described: The maca- 
na or tacape, was five or six feet in length, and shaped like 
a broad paddle, sometimes nearly a foot in breadth, and an 
inch and a half thick at the widest part, but brought to an 
edge all round. As it was made of the iron wood, or such 



136 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



like heavy wood, it was little inferior in execution to an iron 
axe. [Levy in Purchas, iv. 1334. Southey's Hist. Bra- 
zil, i. 205.) 

The same weapon in every respect was used among the 
natives of the South Sea islands, where it bears the name of 
patoo-patoo. 

No nation of America but the Toltecs or Mexicans, posses- 
sed any weapon like a sword, and their substitute for it was 
a long stick, set with two opposite rows of sharp flints, and 
which was wielded like the sword. 

The Greenlanders, [Hackluyt, iii. 38,) the Sioux, [Carver, 
193,) and some of the Rocky mountain Indians, {Mackenzie, 
Voy. i. 36,) are said to use daggers of bone; but I think it 
most probable, that the instrument noticed by the travellers 
above mentioned, was a knife for their necessary uses, rather 
than a weapon. 

In a few instances it would seem, that some of the barba- 
rous tribes, attempted to protect themselves in time of battle, 
by a kind of defensive armour. \ Charlevoix [Canada, 143,) 
describes the Algonquin and Iroquois nations, as using in 
former times a kind of cuirass, made of rushes or pliable 
sticks worked together like basket work; the use of which 
they discontinued from finding it no protection against fire 
arms. 

Herriot {JEtackluyt, iii. 276,) in his description of Virginia, 
says, that some of the natives, had "armour made of sticks 
wickered together with thread." 

A more common defence however against missile weapons, 
was attained by covering the body with several undressed 
skins, or the hides of various animals. But though thus used 
both in North and South America, I do not think the prac- 
tice was ever very general. Lewis and Clark (Exped i. 425,) 
relate, that the Shoshonee Indians united the skins employed 
for this purpose with a mixture of glue and sand. In this 
particular I believe they are remarkable. 

No defensive armour of any other kind was used, except 
the target or shield, w^hich was pretty generally employed in 
both North and South America. Some tribes west of the 
Mississippi, still use them in their wars, but generally they 
have fallen into disuse; for being made of hide or wood, they 
are no protection against a musket ball, and besides are in- 
commodious to the management of a gun. 

From the evident importance of military signals in time of 
battle, the Indians may be said to have had a kind of rude 
military music. In North America, their skill did not ex- 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



137 



ceed the use of conchs, and occasionally the addition of a bad 
drum. In South America it would seem the system was 
more perfect. Gumilla (Hist Orinoque, ii. 294,) says, the 
Indians on the river Orinoco use trumpets, bugles, and 
drums, to direct their march and excite them to combat. It 
was in this manner they encountered Orellana. The im- 
mensely large drums* used by the Indians on the Orinoco, 
were not properly military, as their purpose was to alarm the 
country in case of an invasion. Gumilla says they may be 
heard three or four leagues distant. They were made en- 
tirely of wood, and were beaten on the side in a particular 
place. If struck elsewhere they give no sound. 

For purposes of defence against sudden surprisals, many 
tribes both in North and South America, fortified their vil- 
lages by fixing rows of strong pickets around them, and some- 
times by raising an earthen bank or wail, into the top of 
which was planted a row of palisadoes. This practice pre- 
vailed as might be supposed among the more sedentary tribes. 
We shall mention in a future page, the fortifications of Mex- 
ico, and those of Florida and Louisiana, the storming of which 
cost the first Spanish invaders much trouble and blood. But 
works of an inferior kind, were by no means uncommon 
among the rude tribes. 

Thus the town of Hochelaga, near Montreal, in Canada, was 
described by the first French navigators of the St. Lawrence, 
to be of a round form, encompassed by three lines of wooden 
ramparts about two rods high. There was but one entrance 
through this wall, which was well secured with stakes and 
bars. On the inside of the rampart, were stages accessible 
by ladders, on which heaps of stones were laid in a proper 
manner, by which the inhabitants could, together with their 
other weapons, defend their town, which consisted of about 
fifty houses. (Hackluyt, iii. 220.) Charlevoix, (Canada, 
241.) describes the palisadoing of towns among the Canada 
Indians as a common practice. 

Champlain describes a fort, made of "a number of posts 
set very close to one another," on the St Lawrence above 
Trois Rivieres. (Purchas, iv. 1612.) In another account, 
page 1644, the writer speaks of "forts which are great en- 
closures, with trees joined together like pales, within which 
are their houses." 

The Chevalier Tonti (Trans. N. York Hist. Society, ii. 
223,) says, speaking generally of the North American In- 

* Gumilla says these drums were near three ells, (aunes) in length, and as 
large as two men could grasp. 



138 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



dians, that they know how to "fortify their camps with en- 
trenchments and palisadoes." 

Amidas and Barlow [Hackluyt,, iii. 248,) describe the 
Indians on the coast of North Carolina, as fortifying their 
towns with palisadoes. 

Many nations on the Missouri, still throw up earthen em- 
bankments around their villages; as may be seen recorded in 
Lewis and Clark's expedition, i. 54,92, 94, 97, 112, ii. 380, 
&c. As these ramparts do not appear to exceed four or five 
feet in height, they were probably calculated to receive a 
row of palisadoes. 

Pike, (Expedition, 19,) says, that the Sioux, when in 
danger from enemies in the plains, very soon cover them- 
selves, by digging holes and throwing up small breast works./ 

The South American tribes, fortified themselves in like 
manner with pickets and palisadoes, as may be seen in 
Southey's Hist. Brazil, i. 162, 185, and various other places. 

The Indians of Buenos Ayres, and the western parts of 
Paraguay, fortified themselves with much labour, by ram- 
parts, ditches, &c. See account of Mendoza's invasion. 
(Purchas, iv. 1352, 1356, 1361, Charlevoix, Hist. Parag. 
i. 156.) 

The Indians on the North West Coast, and no doubt else- 
where, secured their villages by locating them in places of 
difficult access, and further protected them by some artificial 
defences. Dixon (Voy. to North West Coast, 206,) de- 
scribes one, which he states to be exactly like the fortified 
towns of New Zealand. 

Professor Pallas mentions frequently in his travels, the 
earthen fortifications of Russian Tartary, which are compar- 
ed to American works of a similar kind. We suppose, that 
he alludes to those ancient works of considerable magnitude 
observed in the Western country; but these we believe, to 
be the monuments of a demi-civilized people, who will be 
treated of hereafter. 

The Indians of North America, generally tore off the hairy 
scalp from their slain enemies, which they bore off as a tro- 
phy of their prowess. This practice prevailed from the 
tribes adjacent to the Esquimaux, to the frontiers of Mexico, 
but neither in that empire nor elsewhere to the south, do 
we distinctly recognize the practice of scalping. The bar- 
barous Chichimecas, (Herrera, vi. 394,) adjoining the Mexi- 
cans, are the most southern people remarked for this custom. 
And except in California, where they scalped the dead, (La 
Peyrouse, Voy. ii. 223,) the practice does not seem to have 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 189 



crossed the Rocky mountains but in a partial manner. 
Lewis and Clark, (Exped. ii. 47,) were struck with this 
fact, and observe on descending the Columbia river, among 
the Chilluckittequaw nation, "the chief shewed us fourteen 
fore fingers taken from enemies; this is the first time we 
had ever known the Indians to take from the field any- 
other trophy than the scalp." In further corroboration we 
may add, that the natives of Nootka Sound, (Mears Voy. 
i. 200, 224, 288, 330,) carry the skulls of their slain ene- 
mies off the field as trophies, and hang them up in their 
houses. 

The South American Indians in general, cut off the head 
for a trophy, Charlevoix however says, (Hist. Parag. i. 92, 
199,) the Guaycurus of Paraguay bring home the scalps of 
their dead enemies, with which the women adorn them- 
selves. It is also stated, {Southey's Hist. Braz. iii. 721,) 
that the Yucunas of Brazil, preserved scalps taken in war. 
But notwithstanding the term scalp, I rather think that the 
Brazilians did not use the northern practice; for their gene- 
ral trophy was the skin flayed from the face. (Southey's 
Hist. Brazil, i. 162, 345.) If the nations jast mentioned, 
did really scalp, the practice at any rate was very circum- 
scribed in South America.* 

The South American tribes, very generally made flutes 
of the bones of those they had slain in war, which were 
shewn as their trophies. 

It was likewise a practice among the Brazilian tribes, 
(Purchas, iv. 1189,) to cut a hole in their own mouths, 
cheeks, eyebrows or ears, for every foe they had slain. 

Gumilla, (Hist. Orinoque, i. 193,) describes the Caraibs, 
as wearing necklaces of human teeth as their trophy. 

Scalping, certainly prevailed in eastern Asia among the 
Tartar nations of antiquity. Herodotus, (Melp. c. 64.) thus 
describes the Scythian practice; 6 'the Scythians strip the 
skin from the head of their slain enemies in this manner. 
They make a circular incision behind the ears, then taking 
hold of the head at the top, they gradually flay it, drawing 
it towards them; they next soften it in their hands, remov- 

* Dobrizhoffer, (Hist. Mipones, ii 408,) says, the Abipones cut off the heads 
of their slain enemies; but if they be obliged to remove suddenly, "they 
strip the heads of the skin, cutting it from ear to ear beneath the nose, and 
pull it off along with the hair." 

Though this practice is undoubtedly scalping, yet it seems by the above 
account, to have been applied only to heads already cut off; and when it was 
desirable to relieve themselves from any unnecessary weight of transporta- 
tion. 



140 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



ing every fleshy part which may remain, by rubbing it with 
an ox's hide; they afterwards suspend it thus prepared, 
from the bridles of their horses, when they both use it as a 
napkin, and are proud of it as a trophy; and whoever pos- 
sesses the greater number of these, is deemed the most il- 
lustrious. " 

But besides this practice, he describes them as also pre- 
serving the skin and nails of the right arm, and that some 
will prepare the skin of the whole body, as a covering for 
their horses. 

Ammianus Marcelinus, (Valesii, 620,) describes the Huns 
as scalping the dead. "Nec quidquam est quod elatius jac- 
tent, quam homine quolibet occiso: proque exuviis gloriosis, 
interfectorum avulso capitibus detractas pelles pro phaleris 
jumentis accomodant bellatoriis. " 

It has been thought by some authors, that the Gauls in 
like manner took away the scalp as a trophy. Macauley 
(Bud. Pol. Science, 321,) quotes Strabo as saying, that 
when the Gauls were returning from battle, they used to 
suspend the scalps (xsyoCkag) of their enemies about the necks 
of their horses; and afterwards set them up as trophies in 
their houses. And Livy also as describing the Gauls, 
"Equites pectoribus equorum suspensa gestantes capita et 
lanceis infixa." I think, however, the above quotations 
only justify the idea of cutting off the whole head; for 
Livy (Lib. xxiii. chap. 24,) observes, that the Gauls after 
cutting off the head of the consul Posthumius, emptied the 
head, as their custoyn is, and mounted the skull with gold, of 
which they made a consecrated vessel. If this was their 
custom, they could not have scalped. 

It has also been thought, from a passage in Polybius, that 
the Carthagenians scalped their enemies. But it is evident 
on that occasion, it was a barbarous act of torture on living 
men. It occured in the mutiny of Spendidus and Matho, 
and is thus described. (Hampton 's Polybius, i. 154.) ''After 
cutting off the hands of the prisoners, they then tore away 
the scalp from the heads of these unhappy men, and having 
broken and miserably mangled ail their limbs, cast them 
still breathing into a pit." 

It is incorrect to say the Carthagenians did this; it was 
their allies, who were of various nations. But it was evi- 
dently done with different views from those of the Ameri- 
can Indians, or the Huns, who only take these trophies 
from the dead, as marks of their prowess. 

There are but few instances of this practice among the 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



141 



more modern nations of the old continent, and those chiefly 
among the Tartar races. The Turks (Mod. Univ. Hist. iv. 
6,) are said, to have scalped the dead who were left on the 
field after the defeat of the emperor Manuel. 

The Arabs, at least on one occasion, are said to have 
scalped their dead enemies. (Mod. Univ. Hist. i. 284.) 
"His men cut off all the heads of the Greeks they had 
slain, scalped them, and carried them fixed on the point of 
their lances." 

The practice of the North American Indians in scalping 
their enemies, has been insisted on as a strong proof of their 
descent from the Tartars, and other nations of Eastern Asia. 
But though the conformity of practice be evident, it does 
not appear to us to warrant so positive a conclusion. We 
know that barbarians every where, take something or other 
from a slain enemy as a mark of victory, and this principle 
is well recognized even among civilized warriors, who re- 
gard the arms or ornaments of a conquered foe with similar 
pride. The savage more generally mutilates the dead body; 
he cuts off the head, the ears, the hand,* and sometimes a 
less equivocal token of virility, as is related by Bruce, 
(Travels, iv. 652,) of the Abysinians. 

We consider the practice of scalping as practiced by the 
Scythians and American Indians, to have arisen from the 
peculiar manner in which those nations generally shaved 
their heads, leaving only a tuft of long hair on the vertex, 
which thus becomes a prominent object, and seems to be the 
most natural trophy they could take from a dead enemy, 
who for the most part was naked, and without arms or pro- 
perty of any material importance; and the mere possession 
of which, did not guarantee the fact of a personal triumph 
over an enemy. 

The Indians of North America do not make prisoners of 
war, unless they have a reasonable expectation of carrying 
them safely off; they almost universally put to death those, 
who from wounds or other disability, are unable to keep 
pace with them in their retreat. 

Many of the North American tribes, when they had cap- 
tured an enemy of distinguished military reputation, in the 
spirit of revenge and exultation, put him to death by fire and 
torture, in which every contrivance that malice and cruelty 

* The Tartars now cut off locks of hair, and the ears, as their trophies, 
(Mod. Univ. Hist. iv. 354.) 

The people of Nepaul cut off the nose and lips. (Jls. Res. ii. 319.) 

The natives of Java sometimes cut off the ear. ( Crawfurd, Indian Archip, 
s, 244.) 

19 



142 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



could devise, were inflicted upon the unhappy captive. They 
generally not only bore the torture with seeming indifference, 
but reproached their tormentors, with their ignorance of not 
knowing how to put them to the exquisite pain that they 
had inflicted on their relations and friends. 

Captives of inferior note, after being very brutally treated 
on their arrival at their enemies' villages, were usually adopted 
into the nation by women who had lost their husbands, sons, 
or even other of their kindred, to whose rights and privi- 
leges they succeeded in every particular, and were as much 
under the protection of the tribe afterwards, as if they had 
been born among them. 

Women were distributed among the men, and children in 
like manner, to whoever had need or would take charge of 
them. They were commonly considered as servants or 
slaves. The men are sometimes also treated as slaves, but 
generally speaking this was rare in North America,* but 
common in Brazil and Paraguay. 

I know of but one instance in which a female prisoner was 
put to death by torture. This was among the Indians living 
near the bay of St. Bernard. (Joutel, Nar. 128.) 

The customs of the South American nations varied incon- 
siderably from those of the North; except in the following 
particulars. They do not appear to have tortured their cap- 
tives to death, but some nations fattened them, and made a 
feast on the body. Azara denies the cannibalism of the Pa- 
raguay tribes, but he is in opposition to a number of credit- 
able travellers and missionaries, who are abundantly explicit 
as to the fact, and who expressly state, that the attachment of 
the Indians to these detestable feasts, was the chief obstacle 

■ * Bartram (Travels, 1S5,) describes a Creek chief attended by Indian slaves 
captured in war. The same writer observes, (pages 184, 211,) that slaves 
marry among themselves, and that their children become free and enjoy the 
rights of the nation in every respect, though the parents may continue slaves 
all their lives. 

Though not altogether relevant, I think it proper to introduce in this note 
an important fact, which may serve towards estimating the moral and polit- 
ical effects of the African slave trade, in that unhappy quarter of the globe. 

The French missionaries in Canada, lamenting the horrid tortures inflict- 
ed by the Indians upon their captives, encouraged the practice of buying 
them, from the humane and religious motive of preserving their lives. The 
consequence was, that the Indians perceiving the value of prisoners, way- 
laid and surprised individuals, and made war on one another for this very 
purpose, and filled the whole country with war and desolation. In the mean 
time, they continued to burn and torture all who fought bravely against them, 
and only sold women and children, and those prisoners who were little dis- 
tinguished. Thus the humane attempt of the missionaries, occasioned such 
enormous outrages, that they had to petition the French king to repeal his 
act authorizing such purchases, and to forbid his subjects to buy any Indian 
captives. (Carver's Travels, 225.) 



OP THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 



143 



to their civilization. {Souihey's Hist. Braz. i. 218, &c. 
and Purchas, iv. 1189.) As far as I have been able to in- 
quire, cannibalism prevailed in the northern parts of Para- 
guay, Brazil, Guaiana, and the adjacent countries possessed 
by the same races of men. The practice does not appear to 
have extended (unless very partially) to Peru or Chili, and 
1 believe no where north of the mountains of New Grenada* 
unless as an isolated and extraordinary circumstance. t The 
Atacapas of Louisiana, (Du Pratz, ii. 152,) are said to have 
been anciently cannibals, but I know not upon what particu- 
lar authority the statement is made. 

I do not think that the savages of the eastern continent 
generally, put their prisoners to death with the cruelties of 
the North American tribes, though we are not without in*- 
stances of such barbarity among them. 

Omai represented to us, (Cook's Voy. N. Hern. ii. 149,) 
that the Otaheitans torture their enemies when captured, by 
tearing out small pieces of flesh from different parts of the 
body, cutting off the nose, tearing out the eyes, &c. 

Exchanges of prisoners were never made between the In- 
dian tribes; for whenever any individuals are captured, their 
own relations as well as the nation at large, look upon them 
as dead; and were they to return after having been preserved 
from death by the mercy of the captors, they would be con- 
temned by their nearest relatives. {Carver, Travels 224.) 
It is on this account, when a prisoner has been adopted into 
a hostile tribe, that he makes no difficulty of going to war 
against his former countrymen and kindred. (Charlevoix, 
Canada 162.) 

The custom of considering the prisoners taken by an ene- 
my as being dead, prevails among certain negroes of Africa, 
and Dr. Robertson (Hist. Jim. i. note 75,) says, it was a 
maxim among the Romans in the early periods of the com- 
mon weath, that a prisoner "turn decessesse videtur cum captus 
est." 

Deplorable as a captivity among the Indians may seem to 
the generality of persons, it is undoubtedly much less unhap- 
py than is generally supposed, and perhaps to the lower classes 
of society, it might be deemed even preferable to the sta- 
tion they occupied in civilized life. Occurrences of this kind 

* The Caraibs of the West India islands were cannibals, but they were cer- 
tainly of Guiana origin. 

f I do not consider the mere revengeful eating or tasting a morsel of the 
body of a slain enemy, sufficient to give a cannibal character to a people. 
Otherwise perhaps, every barbarian people of the world might come under 
this reproach. The term should be restricted to those who like the Brazil- 
ians, &c. made a feast on the human body. 



144 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



have been frequently observed in the history of the Europe- 
an settlers in America, and the following relation is very 
positive in its inference. In one of the treaties made be- 
tween the Indians and people of New England, the former 
promised to return such of the English as they held prison- 
ers, if they desired it; but they refused to compel any who 
were inclined to remain with them; and many persons both 
male and female did remain, who mingled with the Indians. 
(Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. ii. 104.) The same thing is re- 
corded by Colden, [Hist. Five Nations, 203,) Southey 
(Hist. Braz. iii. 391, 407,) relates, that in Brazil both men 
and women frequently prefer living with the Indians, to re- 
turning again to the society of the whites. 

Where extermination of the weaker party has not taken 
place, oi when they have not been driven out of the reach of 
the conquerors, peace ensues, either by the submission of the 
weaker, or by the mediation of a friendly nation, but more 
commonly by the adoption of the latter, into some nation or 
tribe who are at peace with their enemy. \ Du Pratz (Hist. 
Louisiana, ii. 156,) says, that among the Indians of Louisi- 
ana, if a nation of two thousand warriors, violently pursue 
another nation of five hundred warriors, if these last retire 
among a nation in alliance with the two thousand, and are 
adopted by them, the pursuing party immediately discon- 
tinue the war, and reckon their recent enemies as allies. \\ 

In concluding their treaties, there are but two circum- 
stances sufficiently characteristic to merit description. These 
are the smoking of the calumet,* and the exchanging strings 
of beads, or as they are more commonly called, belts of wam- 
pum. 

The calumet, which is a Norman word signifying a reed, 
is a tobacco pipe, whose stem is about four feet in length, 
sometimes round, and at other times flat. It is painted and 
adorned with hair, porcupine quills dyed of various co- 
lours, and the most beautiful feathers that can be procured. 
The bowl of the pipe is most frequently of red marble, though 
some tribes only admit it of white stone, and if it be present- 
ed to them either of a red or black colour, will have it whi- 
tened before they smoke it. There are also various peculi- 
arities in the ornaments of the calumet, by which its particu- 
lar nationality is recognised. It is considered a sacred or 
consecrated object, and on this account is never suffered to 
touch the ground, being laid upon two forked sticks, stuck 
upright in the earth for that purpose. 

*The Calumet is smoked upon every important occasion, either in making 

a treaty, or in determining to go to war, &c. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 145 



Among those nations who use the pipe in concluding their 
treaties, the calumet confers personal inviolability on those 
who are carrying it. They are indeed in the sacred charac- 
ter of ambassadors, and as such are protected from harm even 
among the rudest nations. 

The use of the calumet seems to have been confined to a 
certain part of North America, and chiefly to those countries 
adjacent to the Mississippi, but also well known as far as the 
shores of the Atlantic ocean. Beyond the Rocky mountains, 
it is very questionable whether it was used until recently, 
when their rare communications with the Indians on this side 
of that chain of mountains, may have made them acquainted 
with it in a partial manner. It is said, (Robertson's Hist. 
Am. ii. 41,) that when Behring and Tschirikow visited the 
North West Coast, that the nations there presented them with 
the calumet; but I am inclined to consider this a mistake, 
having never read any thing among the different navigators 
of those coasts, that could imply the use of such an emblem. 
Dr. R. has most probably confounded the calumet, with a 
custom observed by Capt. Cook at Snug Corner bay, (Voy. 
N. Hem. ii. 357.) He says, that the natives who came to 
see him, "held up sticks about three feet long, with large 
feathers or wings of birds tied to them." This custom, there- 
fore, from whence soever it may have been derived, was not 
offering the calumet or pipe of peace. 

The calumet was used by the demi-civilized Natchez, and 
the Indians west of the Mississippi, as far at least as the bay 
of St. Bernard, and probably to the frontiers of Mexico. 
But neither the Mexicans, nor any people to the south of 
them, appear to have used it in making their treaties. 

The Canada Indians (Charlevoix, 135,) have a tradition, 
that the use of the calumet originated with the Pawnees of 
the Missouri, who received it from the sun. This tradition, 
as far as the Pawnees are concerned, seems strengthened by 
the Mandans and Minitarees relating the same thing of that 
people. (NuttaVs Travels, 276.) Du Pratz (Hist. Loui- 
siana, i. 319,) says the calumet was used amongst the Nat- 
chez from time immemorial. 

I am not certain but that the use of the calumet is a com- 
paratively modern custom; not having found it described 
by any of the more early voyagers and travellers in America, 
such as Soto, Hudson, Herriot, and Smith, at any rate, not 
distinct enough to separate it from a simple act of hospitality. 

But it is possible that the Portuguese gentleman (page 40,) 
describes the calumet, when he says, some Indians came to 
Soto "playing on a certain pipe, which serves for a signal 



146 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



that they come as friends;" though his words seem rather to 
designate a musical instrument. 

In the year 1679, Henepin speaks of the calumet as being 
in universal use among the Indians east of the Mississippi. 
It is not improbable, however, at that time, that the French 
traders had both greatly extended its use, and confirmed its 
character of conferring personal inviolability; as such a prac- 
tice favoured their trafic into the interior parts of the coun- 
try. 

There is nothing in the eastern hemisphere analogous to 
the calumet, nor can such a conformity be expected, as the 
very use of tobacco and smoking has been derived from 
America. 

If the calumet be smoked by the hostile parties, the pre- 
liminaries in European language are settled; and they enter 
into such treaties as their situation demands, or their policy 
requires. To ratify the league, belts of wampum are given, 
whose figures and marks, are intended to remind the parties of 
the terms to which they have acceded. There are no hiero- 
glyphic figures delineated on the belt, but it is worked with 
peculiar marks and figures, which serve as a memento, that 
such a particular belt was given, when such a treaty was 
made. I know of nothing which can convey a better idea 
of the principle of the wampum belt, than by alluding to a 
rural custom which prevails in certain parts of Europe, where 
two lovers break a piece of money between them, which 
broken pieces, like wampum belts, remind the parties when 
absent, of their mutual engagements made at the time the 
coin was broken. 

The wampum strictly so called, were simply blue and 
white beads, made for the most part from the inner coat of 
the clam shell, {Venus Mercenaries) That bluish coloured 
part, vulgarly called the heart of the shell, furnished the 
violet or blue bead, which was the most esteemed. 

To make the wampum belt, these beads were strung on 
sinews, and sewed to a leather belt or strap in rows, and the 
colours arranged into various devices and patterns. 

The wampum was also used for ornamental purposes, and 
in this manner may have been worn by many tribes both of 
North and South America, but as employed in ratifying 
treaties, its use does not seem to have been quite as extensive 
as the calumet, unless we may consider the quippos of the 
Peruvians to be an improvement upon the practice, which is 
not altogether improbable. Under the head of Quippos, we 
shall notice some customs in the old world of analogous 
purpose, to which they bear a closer resemblance than to the 
wampum belt. 



OF THE BARBAROUS AMERICAN TRIBES. 147 



There seems to have been but little formality observed 
among the South American tribes, in concluding their trea- 
ties. Gumilla in one instance {Hist. Orinoq. ii. 91,) says, 
"they ratify (scellent) their treaties with sticks, which they 
give reciprocally." 

The Araucanians {Molina, Hist. Chili, i. 119, 249,) car- 
ry in their hands when they conclude a peace, the branches 
of a tree regarded as sacred by them, which they present to 
each other. Stevenson, {Trav. South America, ii. 55, 105,) 
also takes notice of this practice among the Araucanians. It 
is I believe the only instance of an Indian tribe, using so 
natural and agreeable an emblem, in making a treaty of 
peace. 



According to the plan we have laid down for investiga- 
ting the history of the Indians of America, this chapter 
should terminate, with an exposition of what they relate 
concerning their first origin, and their traditional history. 
But we cannot more than allude to this subject as it concerns 
the barbarous tribes, from the inutility, as well as the impos- 
sibility of exhibiting in any reasonable compass, so great a 
mass of strange and whimsical accounts; as incoherent in 
their particulars, as the relation of a disturbed dream. 

But though there is an almost endless variety in the tradi- 
tions they relate concerning their origin, there is one parti- 
cular incident of their history so universally stated by them 
that it would seem improper to omit stating it. I be- 
lieve, that nearly every nation whether of North or South 
America, speak of a deluge of water that once overflowed 
the earth, destroying all mankind but some few individuals 
whom each tribe claim as their own particular progenitors. 

The ancient history of the barbarous tribes, or of their mi- 
grations, are equally confused with those they relate con- 
cerning their origin, and in no instance can be presumed to 
extend back beyond a century of years, anterior to the im- 
mediate inquiries of the Europeans. 

After a deliberate examination of their respective tradi- 
tions of emigration, which are both vague and uncertain, I 
cannot consider them as throwing the least degree of light 
upon the history of their origin. They certainly only re- 
late to the partial removals or emigrations of these people, 
from one to another part of the American continent. This 
belief is in strict conformity with every thing we know of 
their actual condition, when we first became acquainted with 
them, They were continually engaged in war with each 



148 



SOCIAL AND MORAL INSTITUTIONS 



other, and according as they were fortunate or unsuccessful, 
they either enlarged their country, or abandoned it to be in- 
corporated with an adjoining people; or else they in turn in- 
vaded another nation more or less distant, and dispossessed 
them of their country. 

Every change of political circumstances, therefore, altered 
the limits of an Indian territory, which would in the course 
of a single century, leave but an indistinct impression on 
their minds, as to any former country from which they may 
have emigrated. A vague idea of a previous removal, might 
be retained by their oldest people, which they might state 
to be from some particular point of the compass: but beyond 
this, they seem to have retained no precise information. 

In North America, the tribes between the Atlantic ocean 
and the Mississippi river, I believe universally stated, they 
had crossed that river from some westerly country, of which 
they preserved no remembrance. Of the traditionary histo- 
ry of the tribes between the Mississippi and the Rocky 
mountains, I have never seen any particular account, unless 
in the brief observation made in Long's Expedition to the 
Rocky Mountains, i. 339, which states they report they had 
in part emigrated from beyond the great lakes. 

The Indians found by the Spaniards in Mexico and Gua- 
temala, appear to have at different times proceeded from the 
north, and especially from that country west of the Rocky 
mountains. But there were also others in these regions, 
who remembered nothing of a previous emigration. 

In South America, the demi-civilized nations, seem to 
have preserved no tradition of an emigration to the coun- 
tries where they were first discovered by the Spaniards. 

The barbarous Indians living in those regions watered by 
the Orinoco, the Amazon and the La Plata rivers, like those 
of North America, lived in a state of perpetual conflict 
with each other, and were therefore under the influence of 
the same causes, which have rendered the history of the 
former so confused and uncertain. All their histories of 
emigration amount to nothing more, than removes from one 
district to another of South America. It is perhaps a sin- 
gular fact, that there appears to be no connexion between 
the history of the Indians of the two Americas. 

The inhabitants of the West India islands, there can be no 
room to doubt, came from south to north. The great na- 
tions from whom they were descended, whether Arrowacks 
or Caraibs, being yet known in South America. 



CHAPTER IV. 



OF THE NATCHEZ, AND OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA* 

We are now entering upon that second division of the 
aboriginal people of America, whom in the introduction to 
our subject, we distinguished by the term of demi-civilized: 
And it happens conveniently to our plan of arrangement, 
that the people with whose institutions we are to commence, 
were not only the first in that geographical order in which 
we have hitherto examined the American population, but 
they were perhaps, in the first, or lowest stage of that im- 
perfect civilization, to which a few aboriginal nations had 
attained, previous to the voyage of Columbus. 

At the time the Spaniards discovered the southern part of 
the United States now known as Florida, Louisiana, Mis- 
sissippi, Alabama, and Georgia, there were certain nations 
inhabiting those states, who it is evident were advanced in 
their progress to civilization, beyond any of the adjoining 
Indian tribes. The narratives of the early travellers in 
these countries, meagre as they are, yet so explicitly declare 
this to have been the case with the Natchez, Taensas, Baya- 
goulas, &c. that some modern writers have not hesitated to 
declare their accounts were exaggerations, without just foun- 
dation. Such assertions are easily made, and in this instance 
have been made, without examining the various testimonies 
given by writers of different nations, who have either tra- 
velled through, or settled themselves in these parts of our 
country, at an early period of Europo-American history. 

It is true, that when we became more intimately acquaint- 
ed with these people, for whom we claim a certain degree of 
demi-civilization, they were in an almost ruined state, from 
wars and other calamities, which had begun to subject their 
social institutions to decay, even before the time of Euro- 
pean discovery. We find when Soto marched through the 
country, that the Cherokees and Chickasaws, were at that 
time bordering on, or established among them; and that a 
part of their land had been desolated by pestilence. {Por- 
tuguese Gentleman, 64.) The murderous invasion of that 
villain Spaniard, not only carried death and destruction 
wheresoever he directed his course, but in its consequences 
enabled their Indian enemies around, to take advantages of 
their weakness; from which they had not recovered, when 
20 



150 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



the French made their settlements in Louisiana. These 
last completed their ruin, by war, the communication of dis- 
eases, and the use of ardent spirits. 

It was in their last declining condition, that we became 
acquainted with the people of Louisiana, through the me- 
dium of some French travellers, who visited that country 
about the commencement of the last century. They have 
given us a tolerable account of the Natchez, a tribe in imme- 
diate contact with their colony, and whom they considered 
as the ancient head of the demi-civilized people of Louisiana. 
From the history of that tribe chiefly, in connexion with 
occasional information of other tribes, we think we have 
plausible authority to infer the general state of society in 
that part of America, denominated Florida by the first dis- 
coverers. 

We have been induced to retain the name of Florida as 
the title of the present chapter, from the difficulty of finding 
a common name, for the several nations of whom we shall 
speak. And as they were spread perhaps loosely, over four 
or five of our present southern states, an equal difficulty was 
felt, to distinguish their country under a common appella- 
tion. Under these circumstances of embarrassment, it has 
been thought advisable to continue the use of the name 
Florida, which was originally, though vaguely, applied by the 
Spaniards to that part of the United States lying between 
the ocean and the Appalachian mountains, and extending east 
and west, from about the Savannah river into the province 
of Texas. 

That a state of society prevailed among the people of this 
part of North America, very different from that of any of 
their neighbours, is evident from the historians of Soto's 
expedition, who describe the houses of the natives to be 
like farm houses in Spain, and collected together into large 
towns. {Port. Gent. 46.) In other places they speak of 
dwellings with out houses, bake houses, granaries, &c. ; 
shewing nations no longer in the hunter state, but attached 
to the soil, and with all the corresponding effects of a life 
less erratic than that of the more barbarous tribes. That 
we may give the best view of their actual state of society, 
we shall divide our subject into different heads, more or less 
analogous to those used when treating of the barbarous or 
savage tribes. 



I 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



151 



Of the State of Society, Arts, 8?c. among the Indians of 

Florida. 

The general state of society and manners among the Nat- 
chez, and other nations inhabiting Florida, only differed in 
degree from the ruder tribes adjoining, and of whom we have 
discoursed in the preceding chapter. They procured a part 
of their subsistence from hunting and fishing, but agricultu- 
ral arts were in much greater perfection, and more extensive- 
ly pursued. They did not change their residence as other 
North American tribes, and therefore their houses, domestic 
implements, and furniture, were comparatively comfortable 
in their various uses. According to the plan we have laid 
down for investigating this subject, we shall in the first place 
describe their habitations. 

ft "The huts of the Natchez," according to Du Pratz, (Hist. 
Louisiana, ii. 224,) "are nearly a perfect square, none less 
than fifteen feet, and some are thirty feet square. They erect 
these huts in the following manner; they bring from the 
woods many young trees about four inches in diameter, and 
thirteen or twenty feet in length, they plant the strongest of 
these in the four corners, and the others fifteen inches from 
each other, ,in straight lines, for the sides of the building. 
A pole is then laid horizontally along the sides on the inside, 
and all the poles are strongly fastened to it by split canes. 
Then the four corner poles are bent inwards, till they all meet 
in the centre, where they are strongly fastened together. 
The side poles are then bent in the same manner, and bound 
down to the others. They then make a mortar of mud mix- 
ed with Spanish beard, (Tillandia usneoides) with which they 
fill up all the chinks, leaving no opening but the door. The 
mud wall they cover both outside and inside with mats made 
of split cane. (Arundo gigantea.) The roof is thatched with 
turf and straw intermixed, and over all is laid a mat of canes, 
which is fastened to the tops of the walls by creeping plants. 
These huts will last twenty years, without material repairs." 

This account is confirmed by Charlevoix. (Canada, 312.) 
Tonti (Tram. N. York Hist. Soc. ii. 235,) describes the 
Illinois Indians, adjacent to the Natchez, as having two apart- 
ments to their huts, and underneath a cellar for preserving 
their grain. 

As the natives of Florida for the most part lived under a 
despotic government, it was but natural, that their chiefs 
should be lodged in a superior manner to their subjects. Gar- 
Acilazo de la Vega (Hist, de la Florida, i. 217,) gives us the 
following relation, not only interesting to our present sub- 



152 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



ject, but which throws a strong light upon the history of the 
numerous mounds, described by more modern travellers in 
this part of the United States. 

"The town and house of the cacique of Ossachile are sim- 
ilar to those of all other caciques in Florida; and therefore 
that I need not give a particular description of each one as 
we meet them in the country, it seems best to give one des- 
cription that will apply generally to all the capitals, and all 
the houses of the chiefs in Florida. I say, then, that the In- 
dians endeavour to place their towns upon elevated places, 
but because such situations are rare in Florida, or that they 
find a difficulty in procuring suitable materials for building, 
they raise eminences* (mounds) in this manner. The}'' 
choose a place to which they bring a quantity of earth, which 
they elevate into a kind of platform two or three pikes in 
heighth, (eighteen to twenty-five feet,) of which the flat top 
is capable of holding ten or twelve, fifteen or twenty houses, 
to lodge the cacique, his family, and suite. They trace 
around the foot of this mound a square place, conformable to 
the extent of the town they intend to build, and around this 
square, the more considerable people build their dwellings. 
The commonalty, (petit peuple) build around them in the 
same manner, and the whole population thus surround their 
chief. The mound upon which the cacique lives, has its 
sides made so steep, that it is impossible to ascend it but by 
the artificial steps or way, that is fixed alone on one side." 

The habitation of the cacique, built upon the mound, was 
larger and more commodious than the huts of his people, but 
not otherwise materially different in construction. The Por- 
tuguese gentleman who accompanied Soto, [page 52,) de- 
scribes the houses of the chiefs in certain parts of the present 
state of Alabama, to have had porticos to their doors. 

Other particulars concerning the houses of the caciques, 
belong properly to their state or dignity, which we shall in 
a few pages more describe. 

The temples of these people, were in like manner often 
built upon mounds, and the whole town was then surround- 
ed with a wooden or earthen wall, sufficient to protect them 
against any Indian assault. These particulars, however, we 
shall speak of under their proper heads. 

\ The furniture of the houses of the Florida Indians, corres- 
ponded with their superior construction. They had an equi- 
valent for a bedstead, which was conveniently made, and 



* The elevation of mounds for such purposes, is noted by the Port. Gent. 
22, when he says, "the lord's house was near the shore, upon an eminence^ 
made purposely to -serve for a fortress," 



OTHER INDIANS OP FLORIDA. 



153 



which the ruder tribes can hardly be said to have even at- 
tempted to construct. They also had wooden seats or stools, 
which were cut both seat and legs out of one block.*' 

In the manufacture of earthenware, they may be consider- 
ed tolerable artists, for they made "kettles of an extraordi- 
nary size, pitchers with small mouths, gallon bottles with long 
necks, pots or pitchers for bear oil, which would hold forty 
pints." (Du Pratz Hist. Louis, ii. 226.) 

The Portuguese gentleman, (p. 178,) describes their earth- 
enware to differ little from that made at Estremos or Mon- 
temor, in A. D. 1538. 

Their other furniture consisted of mats, baskets and boxes, 
made of split cane and other materials, ingeniously wrought 
and ornamented. 

Their tools were generally made from flints, bones, &c. 
like those of the barbarous tribes; though copper was to a 
limited degree applied to such purposes. The historians of 
Soto's invasion, (For tug. Gent. 75; Her era, Hist. Jimer. 
v. 319,) describe copper axes or hatchets, pikes with copper 
heads, clubs, staves, &c. either entirely or in part made from 
copper. 

They made salt near the banks of the Arkansas river, (Du t 
Pratz, ii. 234,) from the water of saline springs, which they 
evaporated in earthen pans made for this purpose. In the 
account of Soto's expedition, (Port. Gent. 133, 164,) men- 
tion is frequently made of the manufacture of salt, which they 
formed into square cakes by means of earthen moulds. / 1 
u The dress of the Florida Indians, was much the same with 
that used by the ruder tribes, whom they also resembled in 
wearing little else than the breech-cloth in warmer weather. 
In the colder seasons they wore skins prepared like chamois 
leather, buffalo robes cured with the wool or hair, &c. But 
they surpassed other Indians adjoining them, in the greater 
quantity of clothing made from wild hemp, the bark of the 
mulberry tree, and other plants with fibrous barks. Of this 
latter manufacture, Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 231,) 
gives us the following account: "They take the bark from 
the young mulberry shoots, and after beating it into fibres, 
bleach them by exposure to the dew. They then spin them 
about the size of pack thread, and weave them in the follow- 
ing manner; they plant two stakes in the ground about a yard 
and a half asunder, and having stretched a cord from the one 
to the other, they fasten their threads of bark double to this 
cord, and then interweave them in a curious manner into a 
cloak of about a yard square, with a wrought border round 
the edges,'* 



154 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



The Portuguese gentleman, (pages 52, 64, and in other 
places,) notices this kind of clothing as being common among 
them. He also reports, that "a great many mantles made of 
white, red, green and blue feathers, very convenient for the 
winter," were found in certain deserted houses they fell in 
with on their march. Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 230,) 
also describes these feather mantles. 

Some of their bark manufactures were made in pieces of 
considerable dimensions; Iberville (Herriot, Hist. Canada, 
i. 489,) takes notice of a sheet placed before a temple, which 
measured eleven feet in length, by eight in width. 

//They decorated their dresses with porcupine quills dyed 
of various colours and plaited together^ as we have observed 
was the custom among the barbarous North American tribes. 
Their other ornaments also, were for the most part similar; 
the greatest difference perhaps, was that necklaces made of 
coarse pearls, were common in Florida. 

Fans made from feathers, were used by the Natchez nobility". 

Plates of copper wrought into various shapes, were used 
for ornaments; and occasionally pieces of silver coarsely 
beaten into shape, were met with by the earlier travellers. 
(Hackluyt, Voy. iii. 269.)'' 

Though rather sceptical as to its truth, I have thought pro- 
per to introduce the following account from Purchas. (Pil- 
grims, iv. 1521.) In the expedition of Alvaro Nunez to 
Florida, A. D. 1533, one of the Indians gave the Spaniards 
"a thick and great bell of copper, with a visage engraven on 
it, which they said they had from their neighbours to the 
northward; wherefore we knew, that from what place soever 
it came, the art of melting and casting metals must needs be 
there. They also gave us many small plates of silver, and 
antimony made into a powder to paint with." 

I have met with no account of bells having being made by 
any of these people, and am therefore not without a suspi- 
cion, that the Spanish leader had caused it to be given out 
he had procured it among the Indians, that he might enlist 
followers for the conquest of the country. Similar artifices 
were not uncommon on such occasions. 

Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 110,) describes the 
Kanzas Indians, employing dogs for transporting burthens; 
they drew their loads on a kind of sledge made of two 
poles. \\ I have not met with a more ancient account of 
this practice, but as dogs were found in great numbers in 
Florida by Soto, (Port. Gent. 55, 56, 71,) and which he 
says, the natives did not eat, it may be perhaps inferred, 
they were used for draft and hunting. 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



155 



Of the Agriculture and Subsistence of the Florida In- 
dians. 

''' The Natchez and other people of Florida cultivated around 
their habitations, maize, beans of several species, the large 
sunflower, (helianthus,) pumpkins, melons, and sweet pota- 
toes. (Die Pratz, ii. 7.) H 

Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, i. 290,) relates, that the 
Natchez sowed a species of grain which they called chou- 
prichoul upon the shores of the Mississippi river. This 
grain, which I cannot recognize by his description, is said 
to be "the same as the belle dame sauvage which grows in 
all countries." 

He also mentions another kind of grain, called Widlo- 
gouil 9 which we may infer was cultivated by them; though 
he gives no other description of it, than that it is shelled 
like rice. (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 239.) It is most proba- 
bly that grain called by Stoddard, (Sketches of Louisiana, 
124,) "wild oats," of which the present Indian races there 
frequently make bread.* 

Bartram (Travels, 38,) found around the ancient monu- 
ments of Georgia and Alabama, certain fruit trees, under 
such circumstances as to justify his opinion they had been 
planted by the former population of the country. These 
trees are the persimon, (diospyros,) honey locust, (gledit- 
sia,) Chickasaw plum, (prunus,) mulberry, (morusj black 
walnut, shell bark, (juglans, &c.) 

Like the barbarous tribes around, they hunted and fished 
when an opportunity offered, and they buccaneered their 
meat to preserve it. (Du Pratz Hist. Louisiana, ii. 
240.) We have already described this process when speak- 
ing of pemican; under which name, this dried meat was 
known among the more northern nations. 

The Port. Gent, page 72, says on one occasion, that So- 
to's troops met with a pot of honey, though neither before 
nor after did they see bees or honey. 

Some of the Florida nations on the coast, are reported to 
have eaten occasionally a kind of unctuous earth. (Robert- 
sons Hist. Jim. ii. 452.) We have in page 78, given a 
short view of this practice, which has been observed among 
various people of either hemisphere. 

None of the people of Florida appear to have used intox- 
icating drinks: but they made a hot tea from the leaves of 

* Romans, (Hist. Florida, 84, 122,) at a comparatively late period says, the 
Florida Indians cultivated two varieties of that species of Panicum called 
Guinea corn. It is very possible, these are the two species of grain to which 
Bu Pratz alludes. 



156 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



the cassine, (prinos glaber,) which they poured backwards 
and forwards until it frothed. \\ This tea may have been 
slightly stimulant, but seems to have had no other than a 
diaphoretic or diuretic effect. (Hackluyt, Voy. iii. 327. 
Charlevoix, Canada, 342.) 

They smoked tobacco, and danced to the same kinds of 
musical instruments which we have described in page 90. 
But the women here were allowed to dance in circles among 
themselves, surrounded by larger circles of men. 

They also played that masculine game of ball we have 
described in page 86, and the game of chungke mentioned 
in page 87, and which perhaps had its origin among these 
people, or a kindred tribe. 

Besides these games, they had the more sedentary ones of 
the platter or dish, and of the fifty or seventy sticks; see 
page 88. 

Any other particulars of their amusements, will be found 
in our account of their religious festivals. 

Of the Government and Polity of the Florida Nations. 

What especially distinguished the people of Florida from 
the ruder tribes of North America, was the despotic go- 
vernment under which they lived; and which is very strik- 
ing to a citizen of the United States, from its contrast with 
the institutions of the bold and independent nations of the 
Delaware or Iroquois stocks. 

As previously stated, we have been obliged to compile 
our account of these people, from histories of different na- 
tions of this part of America, which agreeing in general 
conformity, when insulated particulars are afforded for com- 
parison, we are thereby enabled, with some plausibility, to 
infer that one general form of institution and polity, was 
common to the country. The most detailed account of their 
form of government, we learn from Du Pratz. [Hist. 
Louisiana.) In various parts of his work he informs us, 
that the nation of the Natchez was divided into nobles, and 
common people, which last by an arrogance not peculiar to 
a savage nobility, were called "Stinkards;" a phrase ex- 
pressively analogous to "swinish multitude." These com- 
mon people were to the last degree submissive to the nobi- 
lit}', who were divided among themselves into suns, nobles, 
and men of rank. 

The suns were the descendants of a man and woman, 
who according to their traditions, came down from the sun, 
to teach them how to live and govern themselves. One 
part of this divine man's code, was, that his descendants 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



157 



called after their celestial ancestors, suns, should always 
be distinguished from the bulk of the people, and that none 
of them should be ever put to death upon any account what- 
soever. 

The nobility of this privileged class, was also ordained to 
be transmitted by the female line; and though the children 
whether male or female, bore the name of suns, and were 
regarded as such, the males enjoyed this honour in their own 
persons alone; for their male children had only the title of 
nobles, the next generation lowered them to men of rank, 
and the third in descent became plain Stinkards. Distin- 
guished actions, especially of a military nature, might retard 
the gradual deterioration of blood; but as the "good and 
great" were only counted, the progress to the Stinkard class, 
was I presume very regular, if we may be permitted to es- 
timate it by the history of nobility in other countries. 

The case was very different, however, with the female pos- 
terity of the suns; for they continued through all genera- 
tions, to enjoy the privileges of their rank. (Du Pratz, 
Hist. Louisiana, ii. 203.) 

The reason for making rank hereditary in the female line, 
is said by Charlevoix, (Hist. Canada, 318,) to have been 
founded in the licentious conduct of the women. The men 
said, it was impossible to say who was the father of their 
offspring, but that the children of princesses, were at any 
rate one half noble blood, be the father whom he may. 

We must observe here, though a little out of place, that 
the male and female nobility never intermarried; for as one 
of their laws which we have already noticed, prohibited 
their being put to death upon any account whatever, so they 
had another law of equal authority, which required the con- 
jugal partners of the Suns, to be put to death at the time of 
their burial. To fulfil these two celestial ordinances, they 
therefore only married Stinkards. The law was thus ren- 
dered consistent, and their privileges were undiminished. 

The history of the founder of the polity of the Natchez, is 
thus related by Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 175,) accord- 
ing to their tradition. 

"A great number of years ago, there appeared among us a 
man and his wife who came down from the sun. Not that 
we believe the sun had a wife who bore him children, or that 
these persons were their descendants. But when they first 
appeared among us, they were so bright and luminous, that 
we had no difficulty to believe that they came down from the 
sun. This man told us, that having seen from on high that 
we did not govern ourselves well, that we had no master, 
21 



158 



OF THE "NATCHEZ AND 



that each of us had presumption enough to think himself ca- 
pable of governing others, while he could not even conduct 
himself, he had thought fit to come down among us, to teach 
us to live better/' 

The Natchez, with some difficulty, as is usual upon similar 
occasions, prevailed upon this disinterested man, whose name 
is unrecorded, to accept a regal sway over their nation. He 
then established that arbitrary and despotic government, by 
which they were ruled when first visited by the French 
travellers; and whose chief features were, unbounded indul- 
gence to his descendants or the nobles, and unbounded ser- 
vitude to the common people. He also regulated their reli- 
gious system; by which the Great Sun was made its head 
or chief minister, thus uniting the temporal and ecclesiastical 
power in one person. 

This divine personage gave them some very good moral 
regulations; (Du Pratz Hist. Louisiana, ii. 176,) and 
among other matters, forbid incestuous marriages, even among 
the nobility, which shews different views from Manco Capac, 
also a son of the sun, who favoured the Peruvians with a ce- 
lestial visitation. 

The nation of the Natchez consisted of numerous villages, 
each of which was governed by its own sun or chief. These 
admitted their inferiority to one great chief, who was con- 
sidered the head of the nation; and as they bore the name of 
suns, he was styled the Great Sun. He had the power of 
life and death over his subjects, and could command their 
services without making them any compensation. (Charle- 
voix Hist. Canada, 315.) Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 
184,) says, "the authority which their princes exercise over 
them is absolutely despotic, and can be compared to nothing 
but that of the first Ottoman emperors. Like them, the 
Great Sun is absolute master of the lives and estates of his 
subjects, which he disposes of at pleasure; his will being the 
only law, &c. But however absolute the authority of the 
Great Sun may be, and although a number of warriors and 
others attach themselves to him, to serve him, to follow him 
wherever he goes, and to hunt for him, yet he raises no sta- 
ted impositions," &c. 

The Tsensas, according to Tonti, (N. York Hist. Col. ii. 
272,) lived under a similar polity. "This people were en- 
tirely governed by their prince's absolute will. They recog- 
nised his children as his lawful successors, and when their 
chief died, they put his wife, steward, and twenty men of 
the nation to death to wait upon him in the other world. 
During his life no man drank out of his cup, or eat from his 
dish, or walked as he was passing by, ,? &c. 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



159 



The retainers or domestics of the Great Sun of the Nat- 
chez, it is said {Herriot, Hist. Canada, 508,) were embo- 
died after a plan, which was established by the ancient kings 
of Egypt. (Diod. Sic. lib. 1, chap. 4.) For as soon as his 
presumptive heir was born, every family in which there was 
a child at the breast, gave that child to his service. Out of 
the whole thus given, a certain number were chosen to serve 
the young prince; and who at competent ages received em- 
ployments suitable to their capacities. Some spent their lives 
in hunting or fishing for the service of his table, others were 
employed in cultivating the ground, and others as followers 
or personal attendants. When the chief died, all these in- 
dividuals were put to death, to serve their master in the 
world of spirits. 

The Great Sun {Charlevoix, Canada, 318,) had several 
officers acting under him in the following capacities: Two 
war chiefs, two masters of ceremonies for their temple rites, 
two officers who presided at councils, when strangers came to 
treat with the Sun; four officers who directed their national 
festivals, and some others who superintended the public 
works. All these ministers of the will of the Great Sun, 
were respected and obeyed in the same manner as if he him- 
self had given the orders in person. 

We have in a former page described the habitations of 
the Florida chiefs, and remarked that they were built upon 
artificial mounds. We shall now complete that relation, by 
describing the etiquette of their levees, as related by Herri- 
ot {Hist. Canada, 505,) concerning that of the Great Sun 
of the Natchez. "The cabin of the Great Sun contained 
several beds on the left of the entrance; on the right hand 
was the bed of the Great Sun adorned with different painted 
figures. This bed consisted only of a palliass made from 
canes and reeds, with a square piece of wood for a pillow. In 
the centre of the cabin was a small boundary, around which 
every one that entered the apartment, was obliged to perform 
the circuit, before he was permitted to approach the bed. 
Those who entered, saluted with a kind of howl, and ad- 
vanced to the extremity of the cabin, without casting their 
eyes towards the side where the Great Sun was seated. They 
afterwards gave a second salute, by lifting their arms above 
their heads, and howling three times. If they were persons 
whom the Great Sun respected, he answered by a faint sigh, 
and made them a sign to be seated; he was thanked for his 
courtesy by a new howl, and at every question that the Sun 
made, they howled once before they returned an answer, and 
when they took leave of him, they drew out one continued 
howl until they retired from his presence. " 



160 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



The state of the Taensa chiefs was very similar; (Tonti, 
N. York Hist. Coll. ii. 269,) but the furniture of their 
dwellings was much superior to that described above. In- 
stead of howling, their subjects made their obeisance by a 
"loud kind of humming," which they assured Tonti was 
their token of admiration and respect. 

In the account of Soto's invasion, it is mentioned several 
times, that the caciques of Florida were attended with some 
rude state. Thus the chief of Cosa {Port. Gent. 79,) who 
visited Soto, was carried in a litter upon the shoulders of his 
subjects, while attendants around him, "sung and played up- 
on instruments." On his head he wore a kind of diadem 
made of feathers. 

The cacique of Tascalusa, [Port. Gent. 85,) received the 
Spaniards, sitting on a carpet and cushions, spread on the 
ground before his habitation. His nobility were seated a 
little distance from him, and to protect him from the rays of 
the sun, one of them held an umbrella over his head, made of 
party coloured buckskin. 

In the dwelling of the cacique of Palisema on the west side 
of the Mississippi, the inner apartment was hung with buck- 
skins so well dried and wrought, {Port. Gent. 131) "that 
one would have taken them for good tapestry; the floor being 
also covered with the same." 

As we have shewn that women enjoyed certain hereditary 
dignities even among the barbarous tribes, we may readily 
believe that among the Floridans, where the noble females 
had such great privileges, they would often be at the head of 
tribes, and chiefs of villages. The Portuguese gentleman 
[pages 49, 63,) relates, that Soto met with several female 
caciques, one of whom was carried on a kind of litter by 
four men; and her canoe had an awning in the stern, with 
a carpet and cushions to sit on. 

Laudoniere {Hackluyt, iii. 339, 344) speaks of a queen, 
who was much reverenced by her subjects, when he visited 
Florida. 

Of the Religion of the Florida Indians. 

The Natchez believed mankind to be immortal, and that 
after death their souls went to reside in another world, where 
they were rewarded or punished, according to their conduct 
in the present life. Such as had been faithful observers of 
the laws, were to be conducted to a region of happiness 
where the most exquisite viands would be supplied them in 
abundance; that their days would pass in pleasure and tran- 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



161 



quillity, in the midst of feasts, of dances, and of women; 
and that they should enjoy every imaginable pleasure. 

On the other hand, it was supposed that the transgressors 
of the laws, would be cast upon lands unfertile and marshy, 
which would produce no kind of grain. There they should 
be exposed naked to musquetoes, that all nations should 
make war against them, and that they never should eat but 
of the flesh of alligators, and the worst species of fish. 

The Natchez and other Indians of Louisiana recognised a 
supreme and all ruling being, who governed the universe, 
and who was called the Great Spirit. They also believed 
there was a great evil spirit, who, however, was of inferior 
power to the good spirit, and that numerous inferior or sub- 
ordinate spirits, both good and bad, were in continual opera- 
tion around them. (Du Fratz, Hist. Louisa, ii. 173, 208.) 

Like the barbarous nations, (Du Pratz, ii. 208,) they paid 
no homage to the Good Spirit, but endeavoured to propi- 
tiate the evil principle, who, according to their mythology, 
governed the seasons, and all that may hurt or benefit the 
productions of the earth. 

The sun however appears to have been the principal ob- 
ject of their veneration, for as they could imagine nothing su- 
perior to that luminary, it was supposed to be especially 
worthy of their religious homage. To its honor a perpetual 
fire was maintained in their temples. The Great Sun, who 
was considered a brother of the Sun, honoured the appear- 
ance of his elder brother every morning, as soon as he appear- 
ed above the horizon, by a repeated howling; and having had 
his pipe lighted, he offered him the three first rnouthfuls of 
the smoke; then raising his hands above his head, he turned 
from east to west, in the course the sun would move during 
the day. 

It is not certain that the Natchez made any idolatrous re- 
presentations, though wooden figures of men were observed 
in their temples at the time of Soto's invasion. Garcilazo 
de la Vega, i. 429, describes certain figures placed at the en- 
trance of a temple, which seem to have represented guardians 
to the sanctuary. But as his narration is evidently grossly 
exaggerated, we shall not notice the account any further than 
as above mentioned. The fact may serve to explain the ori- 
gin of some wooden statues that have been observed among 
the Creeks, (Jidair, 22,) and which in all probability were 
derived from some of the ancient Florida nations. 

Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, ii. 178,) relates, from the tra- 
dition of the Natchez, the following history of the institution 
of the perpetual fire, so religiously preserved by that people. 
The celebrated Incognito, that in a preceding page we in- 



162 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



formed our readers, came down from the sun to teach the 
Natchez how they should be governed; is reported to have 
told them, "that in order to preserve the excellent precepts 
he had given them, it was necessary to build a temple, into 
which it should be lawful for none but the princes or princes- 
es to enter, to speak to the spirit. That in the temple they 
should eternally preserve a fire, which he would bring down 
from the sun, from whence he himself had descended. That 
the wood with which the fire was supplied, should be pure 
wood without bark.* That eight wise men of the nation, 
under the superintendence of a chief person, should be chosen 
to guard the fire night and day, and that if any of them ne- 
glected their duties, they should be put to death," &c. 

Du Pratz also observes, that the Natchez made neither 
sacrifices, libations, nor offerings; their whole worship con- 
sisted in preserving their eternal fire. Charlevoix {Hist. 
Canada, 319,) however says, that the first fruits of every 
thing they gather, is brought to the temple, and that no land 
was sown, until the seed had been presented there. 

The Natchez had certainly advanced very far towards hav- 
ing an order of priests; for according to Du Pratz, ii. 212, 
besides the eight guardians of the sacred fire, two of whom 
were always on the watch, there also belonged to the service 
of the temple, a master of ceremonies, who was also master 
of the mysteries, since according to them he conversed very 
familiarly with the spirit. Above all these persons was the 
Great Sun, who was at the same time chief priest, and sov- 
ereign of the nation. Yet as he says, there were no offerings, 
libations, or sacrifices made, these different persons cannot be 
considered priests. 

Like the ruder tribes, they had conjurors among them, 
{Du Pratz, Hist. Louisiana, ii. 208,) who no doubt prac- 
tised the same feats as those of the barbarous tribes. 

The temple of the Natchez, in which their perpetual fire 
was maintained, is thus described by Du Pratz. {Hist. Lou- 
isiana, ii. 221.) "The temple is about thirty feet square, 
and stands upon an artificial mound about eight feet high. 
The mound slopes insensibly from the main front which is 
northward; but on the other sides, it is somewhat steeper. 
The four corners of the temple consist of four posts, about 
a foot and a half in diameter, and ten feet high, made of the 
cypress tree, which is incorruptible. The side posts were 

* Perpetual fires were maintained as religious objects by the ancient Scan- 
dinavians, Greeks, Persians, &c. The last also resembled the Natchez, in 
using wood deprived of the bark; "ligna decortica." (Hyde de Religio. Vet. 
Pers. 19, 351.) 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



163 



of the same wood, but only about a foot square, and the 
walls of mud about nine inches thick. The inner space is 
divided from east to west, into two apartments, one of which 
is twice as large as the other. In the largest apartment, the 
eternal fire is kept; and there is likewise in this place, a 
table about four feet high, six long, and two broad. Upon 
this table lie the bones of the late Great Sun, in a coffin of 
canes, very neatly made. In the smaller apartment which 
is very dark, as it receives no light but from the door com- 
municating between the two rooms; I could meet with 
nothing but two boards, on which were placed some things 
like small toys, which I had not light enough to examine. 
The roof is in the form of a pavilion, and very neat both 
within and without; and on the top of it, are placed three 
wooden birds twice as large as a goose, with their heads 
turned to the east. Before the doors of the temples, 
throughout Louisiana, two posts are placed, formed like the 
ancient Terminii, that is, having the upper part cut into the 
shape of a man's head." 

We have abundant evidence from different travellers, to 
state, that a perpetual fire was maintained among various 
other nations of Florida; and Charlevoix, (Hist. Canada, 
323,) seems to consider, that the Maubiliens had a claim to 
some pre-eminence among them in this particular, for the 
other nations rekindled their fires at this temple, when they 
had become extinguished by accident or neglect. The na- 
tions of Florida, however, were almost entirely ruined in his 
day; for he observes that the Natchez were almost the only 
people, who kept a fire perpetually burning. 

From the preceding relation of Du Pratz, we have addi- 
tional light thrown on the history of the ancient mounds of 
this part of the United States, of which Bartram, in various 
parts of his travels, has made frequent mention. 

Of the Division of Time, Festivals, fyc., among the In- 
dians of Florida. 

The Natchez divided the year like the ruder tribes of 
America, into moons or months; of which thirteen appear 
to have made the annual cycle. These months derived their 
names from the fruits which were then in season, or from 
the animals usually hunted at those periods. Du Pratz, 
(Hist. Louisiana, ii. 185,) says, their year commenced 
with the month of March, which we are disposed to think 
correct, as this month is really the first which manifests the 
return of spring. 

At every new moon, they celebrated a festival significant 



164 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



of the fruit or grain in season, or of the animal which it 
was usual to see or hunt at such times. But as these festi- 
vals were of simple local history, and of a nature involving 
particulars no wise interesting, we do not think it necessary 
to describe any of them but the one which was considered 
their principal feast, and which may serve to impart a gene- 
ral idea of their state of society. 

This festival was celebrated in their seventh month, called 
by them the maize moon; and consisted in their eating in 
common of new corn, (zea mays,) which had been expressly 
planted for this solemnity. This corn (Du Pratz's History 
Louisiana, ii. 189,) is sown upon a spot of ground never 
before cultivated, and by warriors alone; who sow, weed, 
reap, and gather the crop. When the corn is nearly ripe, 
the warriors fix on a place proper for the feast; and close 
adjoining to it, they form a granary from canes, which they 
fill with the corn, and then notify the Great Sun, who ap- 
points the day for the general feast. Some days before the 
feast, they build huts for the Great Sun, and for all the 
other families round the granary; that of the Great Sun 
being raised upon a mound of earth two feet high. On the 
appointed day, the whole nation set out at sun rising from 
their village, leaving behind alone the aged and infirm, with 
a few warriors who are to carry the Great Sun in his litter. 
About nine o'clock he leaves the village in all the insignia 
of his dignity, and is carried to the granary amid shouts of 
joy resounding on all sides, and after being carried around 
the whole place, he alights and seats himself upon a seat or 
throne prepared for him. 

Immediately after his arrival, they light a fire by rubbing 
two pieces of wood together; and when every thing is pre- 
pared for dressing the corn, the war chief, accompanied by 
the warriors belonging to each family, presents himself be- 
fore the throne and addresses the Great Sun. He then rises 
up, bows towards the four quarters of the world, and advanc- 
ing to the granary, lifts his eyes and hands to heaven and 
says; "give us corn;" upon which the great war chief, the 
princes and princesses, and all the men, thank him by pro- 
nouncing the word hoo. The corn is then distributed to the 
women, who run with it to their huts, and dress it with the 
utmost despatch. When the corn is dressed in all the huts, 
a plate of it is put into the hands of the Great Sun, who pre- 
sents it to the four quarters of the world, and then says to 
the war chief, eat: Upon this signal, the warriors begin to 
eat in all the huts; after them the boys of whatever age, and 
last of all the women. When they have finished their re- 



OTHER INDIANS OF AMERICA. 



165 



past, the warriors form themselves into two choirs before 
the huts, and sing war songs for half an hour; after which, 
they recount in succession their exploits, and the number of 
enemies they have slain. 

The solemnity for the day, is concluded with a general 
dance by torch-light; which indeed lasts all night without 
intermission; for new performers successively take the 
places of those who become fatigued. 

The next day the men amuse themselves with playing 
ball, the same game described in our account of the amuse- 
ments of the barbarous tribes: and the night is spent in 
dancing. This manner of feasting and rejoicing, continues 
as long as any of the corn remains; after which the Great 
Sun is carried back on his litter, and the whole population 
return to their village. 

The festivals thus celebrated in the village of the Great 
Sun, were celebrated in like manner in all the villages of 
the nation, which were governed by a Sun. 

Of the Marriages of the Florida Indians. 

It is barely necessary to observe? that the marriages of the 
Natchez and other Florida Indians, were consummated with 
little or no ceremony. A man among them might have as 
many wives as he could support, there being no restriction 
by custom of the country. And whenever the parties be- 
came dissatisfied with each other, they separated and mar- 
ried with others of more congenial dispositions. 

The unmarried women among the Natchez, were unusually 
unchaste; {Charlevoix, Canada, 317,) but like the ruder 
tribes, when they married they lost the privilege of dispo- 
sing of their favours without the permission of their hus- 
bands. 

Owing to the despotism of their government, and some 
cruel customs established among them, which we have no- 
ticed in a preceding page, the princesses, or Female Suns, 
enjoyed high and distinguished privileges in contracting 
matrimony. As they never married with men of their own 
rank, they selected a husband from among the Stinkard 
class, whom they again divorced when they pleased. But 
this, I presume, was seldom done, for the law permitted 
them to have as many gallants as they pleased. {Charle- 
voix, Canada, 318.) Against these the legal husband was 
not permitted to express the least dissatisfaction. The poor 
cornuto stood up always in the presence of his wife, was 
not permitted to eat with her, and in fact was treated as a 
menial. If he was unfaithful, his wife might have him put 
22 



J6b 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND* 



to death; and when she died, he was strangled that he might 
serve her in the world of spirits. All the advantage he de- 
rived from his marriage, was an exemption from work. 

This custom, so strange even among American savages, is 
not unknown in the island of Java. Crawturd, {Indian 
Archip. ii. 332,) says, "the daughters of Javanese princesses 
when married to subjects, assume a tone, and insist upon 
privileges, unknown to their sex in the eastern world. The 
husband in such cases frequently terms his wife mistress, 
addresses her in language appropriated to ceremony, and 
cannot marry a second wife or keep a concubine." 

Something of the same kind is observed of the noble ne- 
groes of Congo. (Malte-Brun, Geog. book 69.) 

Burial of the Bead. 

The Natchez disposed of their dead, for the most part, m 
a manner we described as being practised among certain of 
the barbarous tribes. They exposed the corpse on a cover- 
ed stage or elevated bier, until by putrefaction the bones 
alone remained. The skeleton was then carried to one of 
their temples in a cane basket, and preserved there until a 
sufficient number had been collected together. They were 
then committed to the earth in a common grave, as is the 
present custom in this country. 

When any of the Suns died, a great number of persons 
were put to death by strangling, and especially the wife or 
husband of the deceased, who we have previously remarked 
was always a Stinkard. 

This custom of putting persons to death at the funerals of 
the great, was remarked in Soto's time. (Port, Gent. 159.) 

The bones of the retainers and domestics that had been thus 
strangled, after being deprived of the flesh by the process of 
putrefaction as described above, were, when dried, put in bas- 
kets, and placed in the temple together with those of the Sun 
for whose service in the future world, they had been thus 
murdered. So abject indeed were these people, that the his- 
torians of Louisiana inform us, that the miserable creatures 
who were put to death on these occasions, generally thought 
it an especial privilege, and went to the place of their execu- 
tion singing and dancing. Even women with children at 
the breast, would deliver their infants to a nurse, and die- 
when their prescribed time had arrived, though their pecu- 
liar situation exempted them from this untimely death. 
(Charlevoix, Canada, 316; Du Pratz, Hist. Louisiana, 
ii. 214.) 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA- 



167 



Of War and Peace, among the Florida Indians. 

Though the government of the Natchez was apparently a 
pure despotism, yet on some occasions the people exercised 
a certain power which we cannot well define. This appears 
from the fact, that the oldest and bravest warriors hold the 
council of war, at which though the Great Sun presided, 
he took no part in the debate, and the war chief who stated 
the motives for war to the council, after making his exposi- 
tion, was only a spectator of the proceedings of others, who 
decide upon the course they will pursue. 

The formalities used in declaring war or making peace, 
appear to differ very inconsiderably from the customs of the 
barbarous North American tribes, as already described; and 
the war itself, was carried on in the same skirmishing man- 
ner. They scalped the slain, burned, and otherwise tortured 
their prisoners, with every aggravation of cruelty. 

Their weapons were in no respect different from those of 
the adjoining tribes. In one particular they approached the 
customs of European warfare, by making use of military 
drums. {Port. Gent. 101.) 

The calumet was in use among them, and as fully respect- 
ed as it was by the adjoining nations. Du Pratz {Hist. Lou- 
isiana, i. 319,) says, its use was of immemorial antiquity 
with the Natchez. But I have met with no account of it in 
the histories of Soto's invasion. Henepin, A. D. 1679, 
{tflcct. of La Salle's Expedition, 74,) is the earliest writer, 
to my knowledge, who notes its use in this part of America. 

The Natchez and other nations of Florida, surrounded their 
villages with palisadoes of great size, to protect them from 
the assaults or surprisals of their enemies. 

Some of their towns were observed in the time of Soto's 
invasion, {Port. Gent. 83,) to be protected by ' 'great stakes 
driven deep into the ground, with poles of the bigness of 
one's arm cross ways, both inside and out, which were fasten- 
ed with pins, to knit all the work together, and which was 
about the height of a lance." 

Other towns were much more strongly fortified, as is rela- 
ted by Herrera, {Hist. America, v. 324,) in his account of 
Soto's expedition. "The town of Mabila or Mavila, consist- 
ed of eighty houses seated in a plain, enclosed with piles 
drove down, and timbers athwart^ rammed with long straw 
and earth between the hollow spaces, so that it looked like a 
wall smoothed with a trowel, and at every eighty paces was 
a tower,* where eight men could fight, with many loop holes, 

* 1 presume this defensive wall was composed partly of palisadoes and 
partly of earthen mounds, which being elevated a little above the regular 
wall, impressed the Spaniards with the idea, that they were towers. And 
indeed they answered that purpose. 



168 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



and two gates. In the midst of the town was a large square." 
Capaha, (Herrera, v. 336,) "was fortified with a ditch 
forty fathom* wide and ten deep, full of water, conveyed to 
it by a canal from the great river, being three leagues distant. 
The ditch enclosed three parts of the town; the fourth being 
secured with high and thick palisadoes. The natives retreat- 
ed from hence to a fortified island in the great river." 

That nothing may be wanting to establish these facts, to 
which we shall again recur in another chapter of our work, 
we shall add the following account from Du Pratz. (Hist. 
Louisiana, ii. 251.) "When a nation is too weak to defend 
itself in the field, they endeavour to protect themselves by a 
fort. This fort is built circularly, of two rows of large logs 
of wood; the logs of the inner row being opposite to the join- 
ings of the logs of the outer row. These logs are about fif- 
teen feet long, five feet of which are sunk in the ground: the 
outer logs are about two feet thick, and the inner about half 
as much. At every forty paces along this wall, a circular 
tower juts out, and at the entrance of the fort, which is 
always next to the river, the two ends of the wall pass be- 
yond each other, and leave a side opening. In the middle 
of the fort, stands a tree with its branches lopt off within six 
or eight inches of the trunk, and this serves for a watch tow- 
er, &c. But notwithstanding all these precautions for de- 
fence, if the besieged are but hindered from coming out to 
water, they are soon obliged to surrender." 

Du Pratz (Hist. Louisiana, i. 154, 156, 159,) mentions, 
forts built by the Natchez to protect themselves against the 
French; and one by the Chickasaws, (page 169,) to whom 
the Natchez fled after the destruction of their country. This 
was made "of trees two feet thick, placed like palisadoes, 
and their joinings lined with other posts almost as large. 
They also had formed a gallery of flat palisadoes quite round 
their fort, which were covered with earth to protect them- 
selves from the grenades. " This fort withstood an attack 
of the French, and who finally raised the siege, leaving their 
dead exposed to the brutal insults of the enemy. 

Traditional History of the Natchez. 

We have hitherto spoken of the nations of Florida in gene- 
ral, as we had parts of their institutions presented to us in 
the relations of various travellers, that justified the belief, 
that they pretty closely resembled those of the Natchez. 
But in the present section our research is exclusively con- 

* Forty fathom must be a mistake, if the ditch is to be supposed of artificial 
construction. 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



169 



lined to the latter people, for I am not aware of any account, 
that records the ancient history of any other nation of 
Florida. 

According to Du Pratz, {Hist. Louisiana, ii. 110,) the 
historical tradition of the Natchez was this, ''before we came 
into this land, we lived yonder under the sun; (here the re- 
later pointed nearly south-west, towards Mexico,) we lived 
in a fine country where the earth is always pleasant; there 
Our Sun's had their abode, and our nation maintained itself 
for a long time against the ancients of the country, who con- 
quered some of our villages in the plains, but never could 
force us from the mountains. Our nation extended itself 
along the great water, where the large river loses itself; but 
as our enemies were become very numerous and very wick- 
ed, our Sun's sent some of their subjects, who lived near this 
river, to examine whether we could retire into the country, 
through which it flowed. The country on the east side of 
the river, being found extremely pleasant, the Great Sun, 
upon the return of those who had examined it, ordered all 
his subjects who lived in the plains, and who still defended 
themselves against the ancients of the country, to remove 
into this land; here to build a temple, and to preserve the 
eternal fire. 

"A great part of our nation accordingly settled here, where 
they lived in peace and abundance for several generations. 
The Great Sun and those who remained with him, were 
tempted to continue where they were, by the pleasantness of 
the country, which was very warm, and by the weakness of 
their enemies, who had fallen into civil dissensions, &c. 

4 'It was not till after many generations, that the Great 
Sun came and joined us in this country, and reported, that 
warriors of fire, who made the earth to tremble, had arrived 
in our old country, and having entered into an alliance with 
our brethren, conquered our ancient enemies, but attempting 
afterwards to make slaves of our Suns, they, rather than sub- 
mit to them, left our brethren who refused to follow them, 
and came hither attended only with their slaves." 

Their tradition according to Du Pratz {Hist. Louisa, ii. 
146,) also says, "that their empire after their removal to 
Louisiana, in the height of their prosperity, extended from 
the river Manchac or Iberville to the Ohio;* or about four 
hundred leagues; and that they had about five hundred Suns 
or princes to rule over the nation." 

* In Du Pratz, this river is called the Wabash, which was the name by 
which the Ohio was originally distinguished; but that the Ohio is the one 
signified, sec Du Pratz, i. 299 r 300. 



170 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



At the time that we become acquainted with the Natchez, 
their empire was nearly destroyed, though we do not exactly 
know from what causes. Du Pratz conjectures, their ruin was 
in great measure occasioned by their bloody customs at the 
funerals of their Suns. But it is most probable, that their 
empire, as he calls it, was nothing more than a loose confede- 
racy of themselves, and some other demi-civilized people in 
this part of America; at the head of which the Natchez 
may have been, or at least, which their arrogance may have 
led them to assume. 

But the more likely cause of the destruction of this na- 
tion, is to be found in their wars with the barbarous Indians 
adjoining them, and who were at least pressing on them 
around in every direction but from that of the sea coast. 
We also know that the Spaniards, in A. D. 1543, under So- 
to, had been for two or three years ravaging the country 
with fire and sword, treating the unhappy population as 
beasts of burthen, and of whom multitudes died from exces- 
sive fatigue, hunger and ill treatment. The inevitable con- 
sequence of this ferocious invasion, was an inability to de- 
fend themselves against the ruder tribes around;* who pro- 
bably broke into their country in all directions, and smoth- 
ered the partial civilization, which anciently distinguished 
this part of the United States. 

On the arrival of the French in Louisiana, a few insulated 
portions only of the ancient Florida confederation, manifest- 
ed any superiority to the adjoining barbarians; and the set- 
tlement of a French colony there, consummated the ruin of 
these demi-civilized people. In addition to the havoc occa- 
sioned by the introduction of the small pox, and the use of 
distilled spirits, the French and their Indian allies, carried 
on bloody wars against them under various pretexts. Fi- 
nally, the Natchez of whom we have spoken so much in this 
chapter, were expelled their ancient country in A. D. 1730; 
a part being driven across the Mississippi, and the few oth- 
ers that remained, incorporated themselves with the Chick- 
asaws and other neighbouring Indian tribes, and the new 

*Dr. Barton, (New Views, xlvii.) says, "the Creeks appear to have cross- 
ed the Mississippi about the time the Spaniards under the command of Soto 
first landed in Florida. Their tradition informs us, that when they were 
moving downwards, they received intelligence concerning certain men of a 
different colour from themselves, who had hair all over their bodies, and 
carried thunder and lightning in their hands." 

The Dr. informs us his information was derived from Mr. McGilwray, who 
I believe, was either a Creek chief, or else an interpreter to the nation, and 
«f considerable reputation at that time. 



OTHER INDIANS OP FLORIDA. 



171 



confederacy of the Creeks or Moscogulges, arose upon their 
ruins.* (Bar tram's Travels, 465.) 

The traditional history of the Natchez, as related by Du 
Pratz, contains matter interesting to the American antiqua- 
rian in several particulars. Though we consider oral tradi- 
tion to be of little authority, we can still admit that these 
accounts were originally true, but to have been materially 
perplexed in being handed down from one generation to 
another; who having no means of ascertaining or correcting 
their chronology, frequently blend together events, that have 
been separated by an interval of many centuries. 

If we were to assume the time when the Great Sun re- 
joined that part of the Natchez, who were settled in Loui- 
siana, to have been A. D. 1540, when the Spaniards under 
Coronado, made an incursion into the northern parts of New 
Mexico in search of Cibola; we should still be unable to es- 
timate the previous time, when the nation first arrived in 
Louisiana: for their tradition dates their emigration "many 
generations" anterior to the arrival of the Great Sun. This 
expression in Indian traditions, is equivalent to any un- 
known period of time. 

From the traditions reported by Du Pratz, it would seem, 
that they came originally from the northern parts of Mexi- 
co, which is not at all unlikely, as there are certain histori- 
cal facts that strengthen the supposition. 

The traditions, given by the Natchez to Du Pratz, (Hist. 
Louisiana, ii. 113,) relate, that their ancient enemies, by 
whom they had been compelled to emigrate to Louisiana, 
"lived in a great number of large and small villages, which 
were built of stone, and in which there were houses large 
enough to lodge a whole village. Their temples were built 
with great labour and art, and they made beautiful works of 
all kinds of materials." 

We have already shown, that the Natchez in this ancient 
eountry, lived partly in the plains and partly in the moun- 
tains adjoining these people. If we can therefore discover 
any country to the south west, or rather west of Louisiana, 
that will answer to the demi-civilized state described in the 
tradition, we may with some plausibility point out the place 
of their ancient country. And their tradition, I consider 
the more entitled to credit, as it is within a few years only, 

* Adair, (Hist. dm. Inds. 257, 267,) mentions the incorporation of some of 
the Natchez, and six or seven other reduced tribes, into the Creek or Mus- 
kogee confederacy; to which adoptions, he refers the great power and force 
of that nation. It is from this cause no doubt, that manv ancient practices 
of the demi-civilized people of Florida, may yet be observed in the institu- 
tions of the Creeks. 



172 



OF THE NATCHEZ AND 



that the early accounts of civilization observed in these re- 
gions by the Spaniards, have ceased to be considered gross 
exaggerations. 

In A. D. 1530, Nuno di Gusman (Purchas Pilgrims, iv. 
1559,) made an incursion of some distance into the northern 
parts of New Spain, though we cannot ascertain how far he 
went. In this expedition, he speaks of palaces of stone, 
statues of men like those of the Mexicans, a strong place of 
stone, &c. 

Herrera (Hist. America, vi. 306,) mentions, that "as far 
as the Spaniards have penetrated into the northern parts of 
New Spain, they have found the remains of large towns, 
and of the land having been well cultivated, which is entire- 
ly different from the habits of the Chechimecas, who now 
possess the country, and who are supposed to have expelled 
the nations once living here, &c. or it might be owing to 
some great famine." 

From the accounts of two Spanish monks, [Humboldt, 
Pol. Essay, ii. 206.) who travelled as missionaries, A. D. 
1773, through the countries watered by the rivers Gila, 
Yaquisila, &c, which empty into the gulph of California, it 
appears, that the nations visited by them are yet in a demi- 
civilized state; for these fathers found the Indians near the 
Casas Grandes, to be clothed, and assembled together to 
the number of two or three thousand, in villages where they 
peaceably cultivate the soil. They also saw fields sown with 
maize, cotton, gourds, &c. 

These monks, according to Humboldt, (Pol. Essay, ii. 
215.) were also astonished to find among the Moqui, a na- 
tion living on the river Yaquisila, "a town with two great 
squares, houses of several stories, and streets well laid out, 
parallel to one another. The construction of the edifices on 
the Moqui, is the same with that of the Casas Grandes on 
the Gila." 

Though an account of the ancient ruins called by the 
Spaniards, Casas Grandes,* more especially belongs to the 
history of Mexican Antiquities; it may not be amiss at the 
present time, to give the imperfect account of them related 
in Humboldt's Pol. Essay, ii. 205. The walls are described 
as being made of clay, rammed down in a frame, &c. A 
wall intercepted by large towers, surrounds the principal 
edifice, and appears to have served to protect it. The whole 
extent of ruins occupies a space of ground of more than a 
square league. The monk who visited this place, thought 
he could trace a canal from the Gila, &c. 

* In English, The large or great houses. 



OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 



173 



The descriptions which have been given, tend evidently 
to confirm the tradition of the Natchez related by Du Pratz; 
and justify an opinion, that they emigrated from some part 
of the country adjacent to the mountains of New Spain, 
most probably from their western slope, where they would be 
in contact to a certain degree, with some demi-civilized peo- 
ple, whose presence in that country, seems attested both by 
ancient and modern travellers. 

But though we have carried the time of the emigration of 
the Natchez to Louisiana, back to an uncertain antiquity, 
which would allow them much time to increase, and spread 
over a considerable extent of country, and which may be in 
a manner considered attested by the ancient monuments 
which yet remain; I am still of the opinion, that other tribes 
or nations, also of a certain degree of civilization, were per- 
haps equally ancient not only in Louisiana and Florida, but 
who inhabited the shores of the Mississippi and Ohio, even 
up to Pennsylvania. This is to be inferred from the exist- 
ence of those numerous remains, which under the denomi- 
nation of fortifications, mounds, &c. are so widely distri- 
buted over those sections of our country; and which it 
would be unreasonable to suppose, were the monuments of 
but a single nation. 

We deem it most probable, that those monuments are 
the work of several tribes, who possessing that imperfect 
degree of civilization, which we have just attempted to shew 
belonged to the Natchez; and who were fully able to con- 
struct any monument hitherto discovered North of Mexico. 
These other tribes have probably been exterminated by the 
barbarian nations around them, or compelled to migrate else- 
where; perhaps pressed down towards Florida, where they 
were incorporated with a population of congenial disposi- 
tion.* Of these events, however, we have little information; 
they happened in that dark period of American History, 
which precedes the settlements of Europeans on our shores; 
and as related by Indian tradition, are liable to every error 
that may be induced by time, by vanity, or simple mendaci- 
ty. What little we have to say further upon this subject, 
will be detailed in our Inquiries on the Fortifications, 
Mounds, &c. of the Western Country. 

* Du Pratz mentions, (Hist Louisia. ii. 145.) that in his time, there were 
living among the Natchez, the Grigras and Thioux, two nations that had 
been adopted by them. Of the latter, he says they were formerly one of 
the strongest nations of the country. But he does not mention them as be- 
ing remarkable in any other particular. 
23 



CHAPTER V. 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE, 

The next demi-civilized people in geographical order af- 
ter the Natchez, were those of Mexico, whose interesting 
institutions constitute the subject of the ensuing chapter. 

When the Spaniards under Cortez invaded the kingdom 
of Mexico, they found several partially civilized nations, 
established in various parts of that country, which we per- 
haps not very accurarely denominate Anahuac * The Mex- 
icans, were the most eminent in political importance among 
these different nations, yet in degree of demi-eivilization, 
many of these last were not their inferiors. Though this 
fact is generally admitted by the Spanish writers, who are 
our only authorities, they have said little, however, concern- 
ing any other people than the Mexicans, contenting them- 
selves with the general observation, that these different peo- 
ple professed the same religious dogmas, used the same 
hieroglyphic system, and that the same manners and institu- 
tions were common to the country. Therefore in describing 
the Mexicans, it may be said, they described all the demi- 
civilized people of ancient Anahuac. Whether this infer- 
ence be correct or not, we have now few means of ascertain- 
ing, and in treating of these various people, we are compelled 
to follow the path laid down by the Spanish writers, and 
make the institutions of the Mexicans our text, only men- 
tioning other people incidentally, as we may have any ac- 
counts of them transmitted to us in the histories of the 
Mexican conquest. 

But though we are thus restricted to the history of the 
Mexicans, we cannot introduce the subjects of this chapter 
to the reader, without expressing much doubt as to the fact 
of this general similarity of nations. They at any rate dif- 

* Anahuac, was the name originally given to the vale of Mexico, and sig- 
nified in that language, adjacent to the waters or takes. It has been some- 
times used as nearly synonymous with New Spain, which is incorrect; for the 
latter appellation embraces a much larger territory than Anahuac, which 
certainly did not extend beyond the 21st degree of N Lat. Its southern 
boundary is said to have been about Lat. 14° north, which is a very inaccu- 
rate limitation-, for the country is something in the shape of a quadrant of a 
circle, bending from the north to the east. We shall therefore consider it 
bounded on the south by the 94° of W. Lon., or in other words extending 
to the northern boundaries of the Provinces of Chiapa and Tabasco; and ex- 
cluding Yucatan, which politically is attached to the kingdom of Mexico. 



OP THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 175 



fered materially among themselves in languages, and forms 
of government; and we cannot but regret that the history 
and antiquities of several nations of New Spain, have sunk 
into oblivion, leaving a name only behind, with a belief that 
they were similar in their institutions, and equal in degree 
of civilization to the Mexicans. 

The names of the difFerent people who inhabited Anahuac, 
we shall introduce in the present page with as brief an ac- 
count of them as possible. This seems to be a necessary 
step in the outset of this chapter, that our ensuing observa- 
tions on their institutions, may be more satisfactorily un- 
derstood. Whatever discussion is connected with their 
traditional histories, we shall reserve until the conclusion of 
the chapter, when we shall be able to resume the subject to 
greater advantage, after having described as correctly as we 
are able, their peculiar institutions, manners and customs. 

The Toltees, or Toltecas, were the most ancient nation 
of Anahuac of whom we have any particular knowledge. 
We do not say they were the first people that ever lived 
there, but they are the most ancient of those nations whose 
traditional history has reached our times. 

Before this people emigrated to Anahuac, they lived in a 
country somewhere to the north, which was called by them 
Huehuetapallan, in which Tollan, their original country, was 
situated, and from whence they derived their name Toltecotl, 
which signifies a native of Tollan. No reason is assigned 
why they left their ancient country, other than the simple 
declaration that they were banished. According to the Abbe 
Clavigero, they commenced their journey A. D. 596, but 
Humboldt {Researches, ii. 249,) says A. D. 544. During 
their emigrating march, they stopped at various places as it 
best suited their convenience. Sometimes they tarried for 
a few months or days, and at other times for several years; 
when they erected houses, and cultivated lands, raising such 
things as were necessary for their subsistence or comfort. 
In this slow yet gradual manner, for it appears they constant- 
ly progressed southwardly, they arrived in Anahuac, one 
hundred and four years after they first commenced their emi- 
gration. Here they built a town, called Tollantzinco, where 
they remained about twenty years, when they finally re- 
moved about forty miles westward, and founded the city of 
Tollan or Tula; so called after the name of their ancient 
country. This city became the capital of their new coun- 
try, and the court of their kings. 

Their kingdom in Anahuac, was founded A. D. 607; and 
lasted three hundred and eighty -four years. During this pe- 



176 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



riod but eight monarchs reigned over them, which gives an 
extraordinary length to each reign, if we were to understand 
it literally: but it is explained by a singular law of that peo- 
ple, which required that their kings should reign neither 
more nor less than a Toltecan age, which was fifty-two years. 
If the king outlived that period of time, he then resigned, 
and another was enthroned in his stead: but if he died be- 
fore the expiration of the cycle, the nobility assumed the 
government, and ruled over the kingdom in the name of the 
deceased monarch, for the remaining years of the cycle. In 
one instance mentioned by Clavigero, the nobles thus ruled 
the land for forty-seven years, the sovereign, who was a 
queen, having died in the fifth year of her reign. 

The Toltecas were the most celebrated of all the nations 
of Anahuac, for their general civilization, and particular 
skill in mechanical arts. They appear from the earliest tra- 
dition to have lived always in cities, under the government 
of kings with regular forms of law; and had from all ac- 
counts, less of a martial character than the neighbouring 
tribes. The several nations that succeeded them in the oc- 
cupancy of Anahuac, acknowledged themselves indebted to 
the Toltecs for their knowledge of agriculture, and the in- 
dustrious arts. This people possessed the art of casting 
gold, silver, and copper, into such forms as pleased them; 
and they had the skill to cut gems, and precious stones, into 
various ornamental figures. But what chiefly establishes 
their claim to civilization, was that ingenious, but somewhat 
complex astronomic arrangement of time, which prevailed 
among them, and was adopted by all the demi-civilized na- 
tions of Anahuac. Of this system we shall discourse at 
length in the proper place. 

During the four centuries that the Toltecan monarchy 
lasted, they multiplied considerably, and extended their do- 
minions in various directions, building numerous and large 
cities. But at last a succession of years of famine, and des- 
olating pestilence,* put an end to their monarchy and king- 
dom about the year A. D. 1051. {Humboldt, Res. ii. 251.) 
The greater part of those that escaped death from plague or 
famine, fled their country, and went to Yucatan, Guatemala, 
&c, leaving but a small remnant of their population in Tula, 
Cholula, and certain parts of their once flourishing kingdom. 

For about one hundred years after the destruction of the 

* This pestilence is supposed to have been the matzlazahuatl, a disease 
which bears some resemblance to the yellow fever. It is said, however, to 
attack the Indians alone, who are exempted from suffering by yellow fever. 
(Humboldt, Pol. Essay, i. S8.) 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



177 



Toltecan monarchy, the land of Anahuac remained nearly- 
depopulated; when a nation emigrating from the north under 
the name of Chechimecas, took possession of the unoccupied 
territory. 

The Chechimecas, like the Toltecas, came from some coun- 
try to the north of Mexico, which they called Amaquemecan, 
where, according to their traditions, they had lived many 
years, under a monarchical government. Clavigero says, 
they obeyed the orders of their sovereigns with as much sub 
mission as is observed in the most civilized nations of 
Europe. They had distinctions of nobility established among 
them, and the plebians treated with great respect those whom 
birth, merit, or princely favour, had raised above the ordina- 
ry classes. They dwelt in communities or villages compos- 
ed of huts, but practised none of the arts that belong to civil- 
ized life. 

Their religion consisted of the simple worship of the Sun, 
to which they offered the herbs and flowers, that grew spon- 
taneously in the fields.* 

The motives by which they were influenced to leave the 
kingdom of Amaquemecan, is partially explained by the fol- 
lowing tradition, related by themselves. The last king they 
obeyed in that country, on his demise had divided the go- 
vernment between his two sons, one of whom, either not 
brooking the division of the regal authority, or perceiving 
that the mountains of the kingdom were not sufficient to sup- 
port the population, determined on seeking a better country; 
in which resolution he was supported by a large part of the 
nation. In eighteen months after their departure, they ar- 
rived at Tula, in Anahuac, the ancient capital of the Tolte- 
cas, and after some inconsiderable removals, they finally took 
possession of the country; according to Humboldt, (Research. 
ii. 251,) about A. D. 1170. They intermarried with such 
of the Toltecas as were found in the country: and by these 
connexions, received the knowledge, arts, ^nd civilized ha- 
bits, that anciently distinguished that people. 

Eight years after the Chechimecas had been established in 
the country, there arrived in Anahuac, a considerable body 
of persons under the command of six chiefs or leaders. These 
people were the Nahuatlacks, consisting of six tribes at the 
time of their arrival. The Mexicans who were a seventh 
tiibe of this people, had parted company from them a short, 
time previously. As there are circumstances connected 

*This brief description of the Chechimecas, accords almost precisely 
with the character given of the Natchez by Du Pratz. The apparent anal- 
ogy is worth remembering, as we shall again allude to the fact. 



178 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



with their history, that to be sufficiently comprehended re- 
quire a little anticipation, we shall for the present suspend 
our description of these people, until we can dispose of an- 
other body of strangers, who emigrated to Anahuac after the 
Nahuatlacks. These were the Acolhuans, who report them- 
selves to have come from a country called Teoacolhua- 
can, neighbouring to the kingdom of Amaquemecan, from 
whence the Chechimecas had emigrated. The Acolhuans, 
are represented to have been the most civilized of all the na- 
tions of Anahuac, since the times of the Toltecas. 

A very close union took place between them and the Che- 
chimecas, which finally resulted in their adopting the Acol- 
huan name, as their national appellation. The name of Che- 
chimeca, was retained only by the ruder and more barbarous 
part of the nation, who preferred living in the mountains and 
forests as hunters, rather than submit to the toils of agricul- 
ture. This part of the nation afterwards mingled with the 
savage Otomies, and are distinguished by the Spanish histo- 
rians under the term of barbarous Chechimecas. 

The government of the Acolhuan monarchy lasted many 
years, and extended at one time over the whole land of An- 
ahuac. But it had been gradually broken down, by the rise 
of other states and governments previous to A. D. 1521, 
when it was entirely destroyed by the Spaniards, who ac- 
complished the ruin of it, and all other ancient governments 
of the country, by the invasion of Cortez; a hero "damned 
to everlasting fame." 

The nations of Anahuac most celebrated in history, were 
the Nahuatlacks, whose arrival we have just stated, was pre- 
vious to that of the Acolhuas. They consisted of seven tribes, 
who were respectively called Sochimilcas, Chalchese, Tapa- 
necas, Colhuas, Tlahuicas, Tlascalans, and the Mexicans or 
Aztecs. By ancient tradition, they are reported to have 
proceeded from seven caves in the mountains of the north. 
(Jlcosta Nat. and Mor. Hist. 499.) But however this may 
have been, we may more readily believe they were original- 
ly of the same country, as they spoke the same language. It 
may also be well to observe, that the names by which these 
tribes were distinguished, were assumed by them from local 
considerations, after they had settled in the land of Anahuac. 

Of these tribes, the traditions of the Mexicans alone have 
reached our time; and these are both vague and unsatisfac- 
tory. It is related by them, that their ancient country was 
called Aztlan, and that while living there, one of the most 
influential persons in the nation, from some unassigned motive, 
used his best endeavours, to persuade the nation to change 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



179 



their country. While this subject was under the considera- 
tion of their council, a bird near them, constantly sung cer- 
tain notes resembling the Mexican word tihui, which signi- 
fies let us go. Taking this circumstance as an omen, the 
chief orator addressed the people with such effect, that they 
abandoned their country, and commenced their march south- 
wardly about A. D. 1160; but according to Humboldt, {Re- 
search, ii. 69,) A. D. 10.38 or 1064. The first place in their 
journey at which they halted, was on the banks of the river Gila 
of the gulph of California. Here they remained for some 
time, and erected those buildings known to the Spaniards as 
the Casas grandes; which continue to the present day. 
Their next stopping place was at Culiacan, on the gulf of 
California, where they remained three years. Here the Mex- 
icans made a wooden statue of their god Huitzilopochtli, 
which they transported on a chair or litter with them where- 
soever they removed.* 

From Culiacan, they marched to Chicomozto, a position 
not exactly known, but supposed to be about twenty miles 
south of the city of Zacatecas, where are still some remains 
of an "immense edifice," (Clavigero, Hist. Mex. i. 153,) 
which according to the tradition of the ancient inhabitants of 
that country, was the work of the Nahuatlack?. 

At this place, probably from some disagreement among 
them, six of the tribes moved off, leaving the Mexicans be- 
hind with the idol they had made. The six tribes advanced 
on to Anahuac, and made independent settlements in the 
country, a few years prior to the arrival of the Acolhuas, as 
we have already mentioned. The Mexicans or Aztecks, 
took a circuitous route, and after stopping at various places 
for several years, they finally settled on some marshy islands 
in lake Tezcuco; being directed by ancient prophecy to fix 
themselves in that place, where they should find an eagle 
seated on a prickly pear, (cactus)t growing out of a stone. 
This portentous appearance was happily observed at these 
islands, about one hundred years after their arrival in Ana- 
huac. Here they commenced about A. D. 1325, (Hum- 
boldt, Res. ii. 252,) building a city at first called Tenochtit- 
lan, afterwards Mexico. X 

We shall not relate the political history of the Mexicans; 

* Acosta (Nat and Mor. Hist. 504,) says, this image was carried by the 
Mexicans from the commencement of their journey; supported by four priests, 
who appear to have conducted the march by oracular communications. 

f Most probably the Cactus sylvestris 

I Tenochtitlan signifies, place whew the prickly pear grows out of a stone. 
(Clavigero, Hist. Mex i. 3^9.) The etymology of Mexico, is place of Mextlv; 
a synonime of Huitzilopoctli, their god of war. (Clavig. i. 62.) 



180 



OP THE INSTITUTIONS 



this being a matter foreign to our undertaking: but it may 
not be amiss to state generally, that after they arrived in An- 
ahuac, until they commenced building the city of Mexico, a 
period of about one hundred years, they lived in the most 
abject state, enduring all kinds of privations, and finally loss 
of their independence, being made subject to the authority of 
the Acolhuan kings. However, they ultimately emancipated 
themselves by force, and gradually arose to such power, that 
when Cortez invaded Anahuac, the greater part of the coun- 
try acknowledged their dominion. 

It is believed, that the Toltecas, Chechimecas, Acolhuas, 
and the Nahautlacs all spoke the same language. (Clavig. 
Hist. Mex. i. 144; Humboldt, Res. i. 81.) 

Such are the brief accounts of some of those nations, who 
were established in Anahuac at the time of the Spanish con- 
quest. But besides them, there were others in the country, 
of the time of whose emigrations we have no tradition; but 
which it is most probable, were anterior to that of the Tol- 
tecas. Of these people, the Miztecas, and Zapotecas, were 
both civilized and industrious They lived under regular 
governments, exercised the same arts as the Mexicans, com- 
puted time in the same manner, and perpetuated the memory 
of events by the same pictured representations. Humboldt 
(Researches^ i. 129,) considers the Zapotec nations, to have 
been superior to the Mexicans in civilization; and that it is 
possible were more ancient than the Toltecas. (Researches, 
ii. 249, notes.) 

The Tarascas who inhabited Michuacan, lived in many 
cities and villages according to Clavigero; and seem to have 
been partially civilized: Humboldt thinks they were in 
Anahuac previous to the coming of the Toltecas. 

The Olmecas, and Xicalancas, were also considered to be 
of the same remote antiquity in Anahuac. I can say noth- 
ing, however, of their degree of civilization. Siguenza says 
they built the pyramids of Teotihuacan. 

The Otomies, who were a barbarous and numerous race of 
savages in the northern parts of New Spain, were consid- 
ered the most ancient people of the country. We shall pass 
them over with the other barbarous tribes, as not being con- 
nected with the present subject of this chapter; as well as 
the enumeration of other tribes of Anahuac, of whom we 
know nothing but the name. 

Of the Forms of Government established in Mexico, fyc. 

The principal governments established in Anahuac at the 
time of the Spanish conquest, were the kingdoms of Mexico. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



ISl 



Acolhuacan, Tlacopan, Michuacan, and the republics of 
Tlascala, Cholula, and Huexotzinco. 

Of these republics we know little either as respects their 
form or administration. They appear, however, to have been 
rather aristocracies, established on the ruins of a monarchy; 
for Clavigero (Hist, of Mexico, i. 146,) remarks in his 
brief notice of Tlascala: "at first they obeyed one chief, 
but afterwards when their population was considerably in- 
creased, the city was divided into four parts, each of which 
was governed by a chief or lord, to whom all other places 
dependent on such division were likewise subject; so that 
the whole state was composed of four small monarchies. 
These four chiefs, together with the nobles of the first rank, 
formed a kind of aristocracy, which ruled the general affairs 
of the nation, made war or peace, and appointed military 
officers." 

Whether these chiefs or lords were hereditary in their 
dignities, Clavigero does not say; but I presume they main- 
tained the system followed every w 7 here else in America, 
even among the most barbarous tribes. 

We are entirely unacquainted with the political constitu- 
tion of the other two republics; or in fact of any other par- 
ticular, than that the Spaniards classed them as such. 

The monarchical governments of Anahuac, seem to have 
been coeval with the settlement of the country by the 
Toltecs. We have already mentioned the curious peculi- 
arity of their law requiring the kingdom to be administered 
in the name of each monarch for fifty-two years; and we see 
by the instance there cited, that females could inherit the 
throne. 

The Acolhuacan monarchy, arose from the union of the 
Chechimecas and Acolhuas, as mentioned in a preceding 
page, and which form of government we presume was their 
ancient political constitution; for when they arrived in Ana- 
huac, they are said to have been led by princes. What fea- 
tures of their government may have been derived from the 
Toltecas, we know not; but the succession to their throne 
was regulated according to the rank of the mother or queen 
who bore a son; i.e. the son of the noblest woman succeded 
to the throne. 

We are ignorant whether there were any peculiarities in 
the governments of the other nations of Anahuac, excepting 
those of the Aztecs or Mexicans. 

The Mexicans, until A. D. 1352, lived under an aristocrati- 
cal form of government, which was administered by persons 
the most eminent in the nation for nobility and wisdom. 
24 



1S2 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



Of these there were twenty in number, at the time they 
laid the foundations of the city of Mexico. From various 
political considerations, and from the example of surround- 
ing nations, about twenty-seven years after that time, they 
determined on having a king. Their choice elected, or 
rather called to the throne, Acamapitzin, who was considered 
one of the most prudent and deserving persons in the na- 
tion. Just before his death, he surrendered his dignity into 
the hands of the chief people of Mexico, advising them to 
choose as his successor the person most capable of serving 
them, at that time both poor and in subjection to the Tepa- 
necas. An interregnum of four months followed this event, 
a circumstance which never took place afterwards; for the 
electors in future made their selection, a few days after the 
death of the preceding monarch. 

These electors, which is a singular feature in a semi-bar- 
barous government,* were chosen by the nobility on the 
accession of every monarch, to serve for the next imperial 
election. They were four in number, though at a later period, 
the kings of Acolhuacan and Tacuba were made honorary 
electors; these had no vote, though they appear to have 
had the power of ratifying the choice of the other four 
electors. They do not seem to have been ever present at 
the time of election. 

The Mexican king was not succeeded by his son, but by 
his brother: we presume upon the same principle that seems 
to have prevailed throughout America, of tracing their de- 
scents by the female line. In default of brothers, one of 
the nephews of the late monarch was selected, or in failure 
of this kindred, one of his cousins; thus restricting the 
electors to choose out of certain branches of one family, accor- 
ding to a prescribed law, but leaving them to select the indi- 
vidual. {Clavigero, Hist. Mexico, ii. 126.) This method 
of electing kings, prevailed until the Spanish conquest. 

In the latter reigns of the -Mexican kings, they lived in 
great state and pomp, attended by numerous servants, who 
served them upon gold and silver plate with great varieties 
of food. They maintained a numerous harem; and when 
they went abroad, were carried on the shoulders of their 
nobility in an ornamented litter, and cloths were spread be- 
fore them when they condescended to walk on the ground. 

* The system of choosing kings by a body of electors, has been practised 
by a much more barbarous people than the Mexicans. The Goa Macassars, 
( Crairfurd , Ir.d. *frchip. iii. 14,) choose their king and his ministers by a body 
of ten electors. We are not told, however, who appoints these electors. 

The Muysca?, an American people in Colombia, appointed their great pon- 
tiff by four electors, (Humboldt, Res. ii. 10S,) who were civil chiefs. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



1S3 



The palace was composed of a great number of spacious, 
but low houses, in which the whole court for the most part 
resided. Connected with the imperial residence of Monte- 
zuma, were extensive gardens, with menageries for beasts 
and birds, and ponds for fishes. He had also made a collec- 
tion of odd and singular looking men. There were also 
military arsenals, and magazines of clothes and provisions, 
baths, &c, connected with the palace. (Clavigero, Hist. 
Mexico, i. 283.) 

The Mexican crown was something like a small mitre,* 
one point of which stood up in front, and the other fell 
back over the neck. It was made of gold, silver, or some 
other rich material. 

The kings of Mexico and Acolhuacan, had three supreme 
councils, composed of the chief nobility, in which were de- 
liberated the general affairs of the kingdom, the revenues of 
the king, and matters relating to peace and war; and in 
general, the king resolved upon no measures of importance, 
without consulting these counsellors. {Clavigero, Hist. 
Mexico, ii. 132.) 

The Mexican nation was divided into four castes, viz. 
nobles, priests, soldiers, and common people; and like the 
ancient Egyptians, Celts, Hindus, &c, the sons followed 
the occupations of their fathers. Even the magistracy was 
hereditary. (Clavigero, Hist. Mexico, ii. 125.) 

The Mexican nobility were divided into several classes, 
each of which was distinguished by particular badges or in- 
signia. These privileged classes, alone wore gold and gems 
upon their clothes; and to them belonged all the high offices 
of the court, the magistracy, and the principal commands in 
the army. 

Nobility was hereditary from father to son, differing in 
this respect from the law of regal succession: in default of 
sons, the brothers of the deceased inherited. 

Even among the poorest Mexican Indians of the present 
day, every inheritance descends to the eldest son. 

It is supposed, that the laws of the Mexicans were at first 
enacted by the nobility; in later times this was a part of the 
royal prerogative, and their laws were consequently often 
capricious and despotic. Their laws were exhibited to the 
people as far as practicable, by hieroglyphic paintings, and 
were enforced by officers appointed by the king. 

Among the Mexicans, there were several different tribu- 
nals for the administration of justice. Their principal court, 

* "The crown of the king of Lancerota, (one of the Canary islands,) was 
like a bishop's mitre." (Glass, Hist, of Canaries, p. 8.) 



186 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



the aloe, laid in such a manner over one another, as to ex- 
clude the rain, and frequently a living tree formed one of the 
four corners of the house, by which a shade was thrown over 
the building. These cabins generally consisted of but one 
room, but if the family were not very poor, they had a second 
apartment, and an ajauhcalli or chapel, a temazcalli or va- 
pour bath, and a little granary. 

Bernal Dias {Hist. Conq. Mex. 95,) observes, that in a 
certain part of the Tlascalan territories, where the country 
was thickly settled, that numbers of the people lived in sub- 
terraneous dwellings. 

The houses of the nobility, and of persons in good circum- 
stances, were built of stone and lime. They consisted of two 
stories, having halls, chambers, &c, and large court yards, 
often paved and chequered with coloured stones. The roofs 
were flat and terraced, and the walls so whitened, that the 
Spaniards when they first saw them, describe them as shining 
like silver. 

They had no doors to their houses, but a curtain was hung 
before the entrance to prevent any inquisitive examination. 

They had made considerable advances in the principles of 
correct architecture, for they not only built with solidity, 
but they knew how to construct arches and vaults, as appears 
from their vapour baths, the remains of the royal palaces of 
Tezcuco, and from their ancient paintings. {Clavig. Hist. 
Mex. iii. 315.) 

They also cut square and round pillars from stone; but 
which appear to have been without base or capital. Cor- 
nishes, and other architectural ornaments were in use; and 
sometimes a laboured work in stone was fixed round the door 
of the houses of great men, resembling a snare or trap, and 
sometimes a serpent's head and throat. 

Among the more ancient remains of Toltecan and Zapo- 
tec architecture, we must note the monument of Xochicalco, 
and the ruins of Mitla described by Humboldt. {Research, 
i. 108, ii. 153; Pol. Essay, ii. 45, 155.) These we are un- 
able to describe without plates, which are too expensive for 
our publication. 

The temples of the Mexicans, though very different in con- 
struction to those of ancient Greece or Rome, were built with 
some regard to taste and magnificence. These we shall par- 
ticularly describe under the head of religion. 

They also made aqueducts of stone cemented with lime, 
which in some instances extended two miles, the ruins of 
which were to be seen but a few years ago. 

Cortez, in his letters to Charles 5th, {Humboldt, Pol. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



181 



Essay, ii. 31,) states, that water was brought to Mexico from 
the spring of Amilco, "in pipes made of burnt clay." 

Of the Agriculture of the Mexicans. 

The Mexicans, Acolhuans, and other nations of Anahuac, 
as well as the more ancient Toltecas, derived a great part of 
their subsistence from the cultivation of the field and garden. 

The several kinds of implements with which they per- 
formed their agricultural labours, were both of wood and 
copper; but they have sunk into oblivion without having 
been described. 

Their fields were irrigated by artificial canals from reser- 
voirs or dams of water, which they had providently collect- 
ed for that purpose. 

Their fields were surrounded with enclosures of stone, or 
with hedges of the aloe, which make an excellent fence. 

The plants principally cultivated by the Mexicans, were 
maize, (zea) bananas, (musa) cacao, (theobroma) beans 
(phaseolus) of various kinds, sweet potatoes, {convolvulus) 
the sweet species of jucca or cassava, (jatropa) tomatoes, 
{solarium) leeks and onions, peppers, {capsicum) cotton, 
tobacco, the magney or aloe, {agave) and various other 
plants, not known out of the kingdom. 

In the work of the field the men bore an equal part with 
the women, a circumstance which remarkably distinguishes 
them from the barbarous nations. 

Nor was their labour confined to articles of nutriment 
alone; flowers were cultivated in great quantities for offer- 
ings to their deities, as presents to great men, and for gene- 
ral ornamental purposes. 

Nothing can establish the agricultural character of the 
Mexicans better than the descriptions of their gardens, 
which are mentioned by the earlier Spanish writers with 
great admiration. The floating gardens, so generally known 
in Mexican history, were called chinampas, and were con- 
structed in the following manner. Having made a large and 
entangled frame-work of plaited willows and such like plants, 
they laid on it a sufficient quantity of earth and mud, in which 
they planted every thing suitable to such an exposure. The 
frame work was sufficiently buoyant to float the whole mass, 
with about a foot of elevation above the surface of the lake. 
For the most part they were of a regular figure, but much 
longer than they were broad, and were towed about whi- 
thersoever the proprietor chose. 

Their gardens on the main land, especially those of their 
kings, were even magnificent, and would have been consi- 



188 



OP THE INSTITUTIONS 



dered such in any kingdom of Europe; as the following de- 
scription, I presume, will satisfy the reader of the fact: 
"The garden of Iztapalapan, was laid out in four squares, 
and planted with every variety of trees, through which 
were a number of avenues and paths. Several canals of water 
passed through it, upon one of which boats could enter from 
the lake. In the centre of the garden was a fish pond, the 
circumference of which measured sixteen hundred paces. 

The garden of Huaxtepec was more extensive; for it mea- 
sured six miles in circumference, and was laid out and adorn- 
ed with great taste and skill. These descriptions are attested 
by Cortez, Bernal Dias, and Hernandes. (Clavigero, Hist. 
Mex. ii. 181.) 

Of the Aliment, and Domestic Manners of the Mexicans. 

It would be useless, if not impossible, to describe the va- 
rious articles of food consumed by the Mexicans, and other 
demi-civilized people of Anahuac. They not only used the 
flesh of various animals caught by hunting and fishing, but 
they bred for subsistence, turkeys, quails, geese, ducks, deer, 
rabbits, fish, and a variety of other animals, that are not 
known out of the country; as the pecary (sus tajassu) 
and the techichis, a quadruped like a dog, &c. 

The articles of vegetable food used by them, we have al- 
ready enumerated under the head of agriculture. 

They made syrups and sugar from maize stalks and the 
maguey plant, which is mentioned by Cortez, as being sold 
in their markets. (Humboldt, Pol. Essay, ii. 315.) 

They used salt with their meats, which was manufactured 
from saline waters near Mexico. (Humboldt, Pol. Essay. 
ii. 64.) 

They eat off a mat laid on the ground, using no table; but 
they had low seats or stools, as a part of the furniture of 
their houses. They drank several kinds of fermented li- 
quors, drawn from the maguey, palm, and maize. The best 
as well as the most common drink, was that drawn from the 
maguey or aloe, and called by them octli; by the Spaniards, 
pulque. From a single aloe, six hundred pounds of juice is 
generally drawn in the space of six months. This liquid af- 
ter fermenting, which is assisted by the infusion of other 
plants, acquires intoxicating qualities, though not as great as 
that of w T ine. 

They were, however, restrained in their use of pulque, un- 
der the government of their national kings; for drunkenness 
was punished in young persons with death, and in those of 
advanced life, by severe penalties. But persons of seventy 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



189 



years and upwards, might get drunk whenever they pleased. 
{Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 153.) 

They took snuff, and smoaked tobacco mixed with aromatic 
leaves or gums, either in a pipe or enclosed in a hollow 
reed. 

The most common amusement of the Mexicans was a 
game of ball, whose chief features may be observed, I believe, 
among every nation of America, (see page 86.) The ball 
itself, was made of gum catchouc, and was struck by any 
part of the arm or leg, except the hand and foot; which must 
have required great dexterity. But we do not deem it ne- 
cessary to further describe the peculiarities of the game. 

They were exceedingly dexterous in feats of activity ; which 
though too uninteresting to merit description, filled the first 
Spaniards with so much astonishment, that they believed 
they were aided by supernatural means. 

They also had their sedentary games, one of which was 
played in the following manner. A square was drawn upon 
a mat, within which were two diagonal, and two cross lines; 
upon these lines they placed little stones, whose positions 
were regulated by throwing up beans marked with points 
like dice. Whoever was able to get three stones in a row, 
won the game. 

Poetry, more properly singing, was highly relished by the 
Mexicans according to Clavigero; and they had certainly 
gone very far towards establishing theatrical exhibitions. 
But as we conceive what is to be said upon that subject, be- 
longs more especially to their religious ceremonies, we shall 
introduce it when we discourse of their god Quetzalcoatl. 

Their musical instruments consisted of trumpets, conchs, 
small flutes, various kinds of rattles, and drums of different 
sizes, the largest of which, both in construction, magnitude 
and sound, equalled those used on the Orinoco (see page 137.) 

They also entertained themselves with numerous charac- 
teristic dances. Some of these were religious, others war- 
like, and others illustrated the labours of agriculture, hunt- 
ing, &c. The kings, priests, and nobles, all took parts in 
suitable dances. 

Of the Manufactures and Jlrts of the Mexicans. 

The manufactures of the Mexicans were of many differ- 
ent kinds, which for better consideration we shall divide 
into two classes; 1st. those of necessity or utility, and 2d. 
those of decoration or ornament. 

In the first place, their garments, in a great proportion, were 
25 



190 



OP THE INSTITUTIONS 



made of threads, spun and wove from various plants, and 
occasionally intermixed with fur or feathers. Of cotton 
they made cloths, according to Clavigero, as fine as those of 
Holland, and which were even valued in Europe. They 
wove these cloths with various coloured figures, representing 
animals, flowers, &c. With feathers intermixed with cot- 
ton, they made mantles, carpets, &c. ; and with the fine hair 
on the bellies of hares and rabbits, intermixed with raw 
cotton, they spun a thread which was dyed of various co- 
lours, and woven into good cloth. 

From the maguey they made two kinds of cloth, one of 
which was like hempen-cloth, and a finer kind which re- 
sembled linen; and from the fibrous barks of various plants 
peculiar to their country, they made other fabrics similar in 
appearance. ' 

They also manufactured leather like the chamois for 
clothing; an article which we have mentioned already, as 
being used by the barbarous tribes, and they also prepared 
the skins of beasts and birds with the hair or feathers, for 
garments in colder weather. 

The Mexicans manufactured a species of coarse silk, pro- 
duced by an insect of the country. (Clavigero, Hist. Mex. 
i. 95.) Cortez in his letters to the emperor Charles 5th, 
mentions silk as one of the commodities sold in the Mexi- 
can markets. They also made paper from this silk. 

In their pottery they were considered ingenious work- 
men, and they manufactured a great variety of earthen wares, 
which they embellished with various figures and colours. 

From obsidian, called by them itzli, they made mirrors, 
knives, lancets, and other cutting instruments. 

From copper they manufactured their culinary vessels, 
agricultural implements, tools, and military weapons. From 
the accounts given by Herrera, (Hist. America, iii. 253,) it 
appears that they understood the art of hardening copper for 
their tools; for he says "they cut like steel." 

From gold and silver, they manufactured plate for the 
service of their kings, and for various other purposes. 

They employed lead and tin in the fabrication of various 
utensils, which were sold in their markets when Cortez first 
visited Mexico. (Herrera, Hist. America, ii. 369.) 

The Mexicans made large quantities of paper from the 
leaves of the maguey and other plants, upon which their 
laws, institutions, and history, were depicted. As these 
books were painted with deep and glowing colours, they tes- 
tify to their knowledge of paints and dyes: We have derived 
cochineal from them. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



191 



They made statues of wood, clay, and stone, I believe, 
alone for idolatrous purposes; and which were destroyed by 
the first Spanish conquerors in great numbers. They also 
executed some works of basso relievo in stone, which in one 
instance at least, is mentioned with commendation by Acosta. 

In fine and fancy works of gold and silver, they were at 
the time of the conquest, reputed equal, if not superior to 
the Spanish goldsmiths; and they understood the art of cut- 
ting and polishing gems and coloured stones, to the greatest 
perfection. The account given by Clavigero of these mat- 
ters, is not the least interesting part of his work. 

But perhaps the most celebrated ornamental works of the 
Mexicans, were those designs in feathers called by the Spa- 
niards mosaic; which represented any thing that might be 
expressed by painting. They were made with infinite la- 
bour by pasting on paper the feathers of the humming bird, 
and other small birds of brilliant plumage. All the earlier 
historians of Mexico, speak of these feather-paintings with 
great admiration; and they were valued by the Mexicans 
themselves, beyond any other kind of ornamental work. 

Of the Dress of the Mexicans. 

The dress of the men was very simple, being for the most 
part nothing but a mantle or cloak, of about four feet square, 
made from some of those manufactures we have just de- 
scribed, and which was tied over the breast. The breech- 
cloth was worn for purposes of decency alone; and occa- 
sionally they wore light drawers reaching to the knee. 
They wore sandals on their feet, which were tied on the 
foot and ankle with strings; being a simple sole of skin or 
coarse maguey cloth. 

They do not appear to have worn any ordinary covering 
for the head, as a protection from the sun or weather. 

The women wore a cloth wrapped round the waist, which 
descended to the middle of the leg; and over this, a kind of 
loose chemise without collar or sleeves. 

The dresses of the nobility differed from those of the 
common people, only in the fineness and quality of the ma- 
terials; and which were further distinguished, by the gold 
and jewels which they, as a privileged class, were alone 
permitted to wear. 

Of Commerce and Traffic among the Mexicans. 

The circumstance of the Mexicans having an extensive 
internal commerce among themselves, presents their state of 
civilization in a strong light, and a detailed view of their 



192 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



home trade, if we could carry it out to its proper length, 
would I think, shew facilities in acquiring the means of sub- 
sistence and comforts of life, little inferior to the national 
economy of many European nations at the time of the 
Spanish conquest. 

In the nature of their traffic, we more distinctly perceive 
the true principles of commerce, than we can with that 
of civilized nations; who by making use of a metallic cur- 
rency as an intermediate article of barter, have so far in- 
volved the subject of trade with the value of money, that 
there is hardly any subject less generally understood. But 
without the least idea of introducing a subject so foreign to 
the nature of our essay, we beg leave to say, that the reader 
curious in these matters will here have an opportunity of ob- 
serving the true principles of trade, and the modification of 
barter, by the establishment of some common article of va- 
luation like our money system; to which modification the 
Mexican trade was most sensibly advancing, at the time the 
Spaniards subverted the empire of Montezuma. (Clavig. 
Hist. Mex. ii. 191.) 

A very large square was set apart in all the principal ci- 
ties of the kingdom, for the exhibition and sale of the va- 
rious articles of merchandise brought to market. Though 
these bazaars were attended every day, yet every fifth day 
was considered the principal or proper market day; and to 
suit the convenience of the various merchants that constantly 
visited these marts, the adjacent cities held their principal 
market on such days as would not interfere with those of 
their neighbours. The number of persons collected together 
at such times in the city of Mexico, has been estimated by 
the Spanish conquerors at forty or fifty thousand. 

Into this public square, was brought every imaginable ar- 
ticle of utility or ornament, suitable to the Mexican taste. 
Each class of merchandise was confined to a particular part 
of the market, out of which it was not permitted to be sold 
or bartered. We may observe in this place, that there were 
no shops or stores for selling goods, interspersed among the 
houses of the city; all their traffic was confined to the pub- 
lic square. 

The merchants paid a toll or custom to the king, upon all 
the wares they brought into the market. 

Their sales were for the most part a barter among them- 
selves for the various articles they required; but as there 
was an evident inconvenience in proportioning the values of 
exchanges where only small quantities were wanted, as 
well as not having always suitable articles to make the 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



193 



desired barter, they had adopted the more convenient practice, 
on suitable occasions, of selling their commodities for certain 
articles, that could be at all times bartered, either in large or 
small quantities, among the merchants attending the market. 
The substances that thus answered the purpose of money, 
were of the following kinds, viz. bags of cacao, which con- 
tained a certain number of nuts, and which passed current 
from one person to another at that valuation. 2d. Small cot- 
ton cloths of various sizes. 3d. Gold in dust, which was 
contained in quills, and was estimated according to the quan- 
tity enclosed. 4th. Copper cut into the form of the letter 
T, was used for small purchases, as also thin pieces of tin. 

They sold or exchanged their wares by number or mea- 
sure, but it is doubtful whether they made use of scales and 
weights. Cortez in his letters to Charles 5th, [Humboldt, 
Pol. Ess. ii. 11,) says he did not observe any weights to be 
used in their markets, though he saw certain officers break 
the false measures used by the salesmen. 

To prevent frauds and disorders in these bazaars, certain 
commissioners were continually going about among the tra- 
ders; and if they observed any thing amiss, reported it to a 
tribunal of twelve judges located in the square, who punished 
the offence according to law., 

For the convenience of merchants and travellers, public 
roads were made, which were regularly examined and re- 
paired every year after the rainy season. In lonely and un- 
frequented parts of the country, houses were erected for the 
accommodation of travellers; and bridges or boats provided 
for crossing rivers. 

Their bridges were for the most part made of twisted vines, 
generally known by the name of swinging or hanging bridges; 
but it appears from Clavigero, (Hist. Mex. ii. 195, iii. 315,) 
that in some few instances, stone bridges had been constructed. 

As the Mexicans and other nations of Anahuac had no ani- 
mals trained to carry burthens, their heavier articles of mer- 
chandise were transported in canoes, but commodities of 
lighter weights, were carried by regular porters on their 
backs. These men, called by them Tlamama, were brought 
up from infancy to this laborious service, and it is said that 
with their usual load, which was about sixty pounds in weight, 
they would walk fifteen miles per day, and that frequently 
they made journeys of three hundred miles, loaded in this 
manner. 



3 94 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



Of the Mexican Ceremonies at Marriages, Births, and 
Burials. 

The customs of the Mexicans regarding matrimony and 
the commerce of the sexes, for the most part resembled the in- 
stitutions and practices of civilized life, both in what may be 
termed their decorous or licentious observances. 

Fornication was not punished by their laws, but adulterers 
were stoned to death. 

There were public stews in Mexico, and according to Her- 
rera, {Hist. Jim. ii. 403,) they must have been largely sup- 
plied; for he says, that Montezuma suppressed a part of the 
city, in which were four hundred prostitutes. 

Polygamy was permitted, but I presume, was almost en- 
tirely restricted to the rich and noble, whose greater means 
of subsistence would alone permit this expensive indulgence. 
The Mexican kings generally had several wives; and during 
the reigns of some of the last monarehs, they had large ha- 
rems. {Clavig. Hist. Mex. i. 281.) 

In contracting matrimonial alliances, they were regulated 
by certain degrees of consanguinity, which do not appear to 
differ from those established among ourselves: for they per- 
mitted cousins to intermarry, but none of nearer degrees of 
blood. In some remote and more uncivilized parts of the 
empire, the nobles occasionally married their widowed mo- 
thers-in-law, provided they had not borne children to their 
fathers: but in Mexico, Tezcuco, &c. such marriages were 
considered incestuous, and the parties were punished se- 
verely. 

Brothers and sisters-in-law were also allowed to marry 
after the death of their husbands, not however upon the prin- 
ciple of the Jews, to raise up seed for the dead, but to pro- 
vide for the family of the deceased, and to raise his children 
up as their second father. {Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 151.) 

Divorces were allowed under the Mexican laws, but by an 
equitable ordinance, the judges of the land must authorize 
the act of separation, before it could be considered lawful. 

In contracting matrimony, it seems that the parents alone 
made the choice, but we presume always regarding the incli- 
nations of the parties, and unless some superstitious omen 
appeared to forbid the union. Their practices on such occa- 
sions, however, merit a general description, as they offer 
strong analogies in their arbitrary forms to those of some 
Oriental nations. 

According to the Abbe Clavigero, {Hist. Mex. ii. 99,) 
when a young man had arrived to the age of about twenty 
years, a female between sixteen and eighteen years old, was 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



195 



singled out for his wife. But before any steps were taken to 
procure her, the diviners or conjurers were consulted whe- 
ther the projected match would be a happy one; and accord- 
ing to the responses given on this matter, it was either totally 
abandoned, or certain elderly women among the most re- 
spectable of the young man's kindred, formally demanded her 
in a humble and respectful manner from her parents. This 
demand we are told, was at first invariably rejected, but after 
some days had elapsed, the negociations were renewed on 
the part of the young man's friends, and after certain formal- 
ities in which the friends alone were concerned, a final answer 
was given. If the match was agreed on, a certain day was 
appointed for the nuptials, at which time the bride was con- 
ducted to her father-in-law's house, with numerous company 
and music, and if she was noble they carried her in a litter. 
The bridegroom and his friends, received her at the gate of 
the house; when he took her by the hand and led her into 
the chamber prepared for the nuptials, where they sat down 
upon a new mat, spread in the middle of the chamber, and 
near a fire. The priest then tied the mantle of the bride- 
groom to the gown of the bride; and in this ceremony, the 
matrimonial contract chiefly consisted. The wife then walk- 
ed several times about the fire, and returning to the mat, 
along with her husband offered copal to their gods, and ex- 
changed presents with one another. A repast followed, and 
the married couple eat upon the mat, giving mouthfulsto one 
another, and to the guests. After the feast, and when the 
guests had become exhilarated from drinking, they went out 
into the yard to dance, but the new married pair never stir- 
red from the chamber for four days. They passed these four 
days in prayer and fasting, dressed in new habits, adorned 
with the insignia of the gods of their devotions, and drawing 
blood from different parts of their bodies. These austerities 
were observed with the greatest exactness, for they feared 
the heaviest punishments from their gods, if the marriage 
was consummated before the end of these four days. 

The first part of the Mexican ceremonies, are very near- 
ly the same with the customs of the Ceylonese upon similar 
occasions. (Asiat. Res. vii. 427.) 

The family of the man send a friend to those of the woman, 
to sound their inclinations on this subject, and generally the 
girl's family receive notice of it, and give a feast to their 
guest: a few days afterwards, the nearest and most aged re- 
lation of the man, makes a second visit to the girl's family, 
and informs himself of her fortune and circumstances, and if 
they are satisfactory he proposes an alliance. To this he re- 



196 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



ceives no answer,,but they treat him with a much greater 
feast than before, and which is usually a sign of consent. 
The next day a relation of the girl visits the family of the 
young man, and receives a considerable entertainment in his 
turn; he also makes some necessary inquiries, and then says, 
if the young couple are satisfied, it would be well to marry 
them. A magician is then consulted as to the most lucky 
day, hour, &c. 

The marriage ceremonies of the Hindus, are remarkably 
similar to those of the Mexicans in some leading particulars; 
{Mat. Res. vii. 309. Ward's View of the Hindus, i. 173,) 
and which to avoid a tedious description we shall but reca- 
pitulate. 

The bridegroom goes in procession to the house of the 
bride's father, and is there welcomed as a guest. The bride 
is then given to him in the usual form of any solemn dona- 
tion, and their hands are bound together with grass; the bride- 
groom then clothes the bride with an upper and lower gar- 
ment; then the skirts of their mantles are tied together, 
the bridegroom makes oblations to the fire, and the bride 
drops rice upon it, and after several inconsiderable ceremo- 
nies, the company is dismissed; the marriage being now 
complete and irrevocable. In the evening of the same day 
the bridegroom points out to her the pole star, as an emblem 
or figure of constancy; during the three subsequent days, 
the married couple must live chastely and austerely; and 
after these three days, which is the fourth from the cele- 
bration of the marriage ceremony, the bridegroom con- 
ducts the bride to his own house. 

The custom of tying the garments of the bride and bride- 
groom together, was also practised in the marriages of the 
ancient Persians, {Hyde de Religio Vet. Pers. 405.) "Sponsi 
sponsa?que vestium extremitatibus sibi invicem consutis et 
colligatis, eos circumagunt et circa ignem ducunt cum festivi- 
tate et epulis," and as it is no bad emblem of their new con- 
dition, it is rather surprising that this particular custom has 
not been more widely adopted. But we cannot find any 
evident reason, why some nations have, like the Mexicans, 
defered the consummation of marriage until four days had 
elapsed. Abu'l Ghazi {Hist. Tartars, ii. 483.) says, it is 
the custom of the Bucharian bridegrooms, to lay down on 
the bed of the bride for a few moments, in the presence of 
the wedding guests for three successive evenings; but the 
marriage is not consummated till the fourth day. 

The ceremonies made use of by the Mexicans on the 
birth of a child, were certainly religious; but are too unin- 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



197 



teresting to be detailed, though we must confirm the truth 
of the analogies remarked by Governor Raffles, {Hist. Java. 
i. 324.) to exist between the Mexicans and Javanese, in 
their practices on such occasions. 

The children of the Mexican kings and nobility, were 
most generally educated in their monasteries and temples 
under the tuition of the priests; to whose charge they were 
consigned after their fifth year. {Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 
112.) In these schools the sexes were educated apart. 

Plebeians might also send their children to these places of 
education and religion, but they were separated from those 
of the nobility. 

In these seminaries they generally remained until they 
were old enough to marry, and which ceremony usually 
took place on their quitting the temple. 

The Mexicans disposed of their dead either by burial or 
burning, the last of which was the general practice. Indeed, 
burial appears to have been restricted to those persons who 
had been drowned, or had died of dropsy, and some other 
diseases. {Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 108.) We have no reasons 
assigned for these exceptions. 

The corpse was dressed in the habits and insignia of the 
deity who was supposed to have patronised the art or pro- 
fession of the deceased. The arms, utensils, &c. that he 
had used during life, were disposed around him, and an ani- 
mal resembling a dog, called by them techichi, was killed to 
accompany, or rather to guide him through certain dangers, 
to which the soul was exposed in its journey to the world of 
spirits. The priests also gave the dead man several pieces 
of paper, which were to serve as passports or charms, against 
other dangers, that obstruct that mysterious road, along 
which the dead alone can pass. These dangers were from 
mountains that clashed or fought with each other, great 
serpents, crocodiles, deserts, piercing cold winds, &c. 

The same disposition of the corpse was made, whether 
the body was buried or burned. In the former case it was 
deposited in the ground in a sitting position, with those 
matters around, which a pious superstition taught them to 
believe would be serviceable to the dead in his futur estate 
of existence. If the body was burned, the ashes were col- 
lected into an earthen pot, in which was deposited a gem, 
which they believed would serve the deceased as a heart in 
the next world. This urn was buried in a deep ditch, and 
eighty days after inhumation, they offered over it oblations 
of meats and drinks. 

There was no appointed place of interment, for some 
26 



198 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



were buried near the temples, others in the fields and moun- 
tains; and the kings and chiefs, frequently directed their 
ashes to be preserved in the sanctuaries of the temples. 

Such were the funeral ceremonies used by the common 
people; but on the death of their kings and nobility, addi- 
tional forms were observed; which we do not deem neces- 
sary to describe, further, than they put slaves or servants to 
death, sometimes in great numbers, to attend these barbari- 
an lords in the future world. They killed the techichis as 
already described, and supplied the ashes with the gem for 
a heart in like manner. 

Most of the ceremonies used at the Mexican funerals, have 
been practised among rude nations in every part of the 
world; and the custom of depositing a stone or jewel with the 
remains, to answer the purpose of a heart, whimsical as it 
may seem, appears to have been equally the custom of some 
nations of the Eastern continent: Thus the Hindoos to this 
day, enclose a stone with the ashes of their dead,* apparent- 
ly to this intent. 

Mr. Pegge, in his observations on the Staunton Moor 
urns, (Jirchaslogia, viii. 5S,) remarks, that in these druidi- 
cal monuments, which all contain burned human bones, is 
found a substance supposed to be mountain pitch, which is 
cut into the shape of a heart, and which it may be presumed 
was enclosed from superstitious motives, analogous to those 
of the Mexicans. 

Of the Mexican Wars. 

Previous to declaring war, an embassy of three or four no- 
ble and eloquent persons were sent to the hostile party, either 
to obtain redress, or to make demands. These ambassadors 
wore dresses and certain insignia, that manifested their cha- 
racter; and by the national law of Anahuac, their persons 
were inviolable, provided they did not leave the high-way. 

If no accommodation took place, they declared war, which 
was formally notified to the enemy by sending them several 
shields, &c. 

The Mexican army was composed of several corps of men 
which the Spaniards called companies, though they consist- 
ed of two or three hundred warriors. In a large army there 
were three grades of officers superior to the commanders of 
the companies, and inferior to the general in chief; but tfreir 
particular duties are not known at the present time. 

The discipline of their troops was strict; they marched 

* I have mislaid my authority for this fact, but believe it to have been one 
of the volumes of the Asiatic Researches. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



199 



and fought in close order, and it is said, they punished with 
death those who engaged the enemy without permission. 

Clavigero {Hist. Mex. ii. 170,) says a body of men during 
their battles, was stationed to act as a corps du reserve. He 
says in another page, that among the nations of Anahuac, the 
first battle was usually fought in a field appointed for that 
purpose. 

Though each company had its own standard, there was one 
which was considered the general standard of the army; and 
which appears to have been commonly tied to the back of the 
commander. 

These standards resembled the Roman signum, being 
staves of about eight or ten feet in length, on which the in- 
signia of the state, made of gold, feathers, &c, was placed. 
That of the Mexicans, according to Clavigero, was an eagle 
darting on a tiger; but I am inclined to think, there must be 
an error in our English translation of his history in this par- 
ticular; as an eagle devouring a serpent, was properly the 
arms or insignia of the Mexican nation. 

The chief object of their soldiers was to make prisoners, 
whom they afterwards sacrificed to their gods according to 
their bloody rites; and those persons were rewarded, who 
had taken the greatest number of prisoners. 

It does not appear to me, that the Mexicans took any par- 
ticular trophy from the dead. On one occasion, they cut off 
Ihe ears of those they made prisoners during a battle; (C7#~ 
vig. Hist. Mex. i. 159,) but which practice does not appear 
to have been ever repeated. 

A prisoner that had been captured by a king, after he had 
been sacrificed to the gods of Mexico, was skinned with the 
head entire, and being stuffed with cotton, was hung up in 
some conspicuous place: but this custom seems to have been 
restricted to kingly triumphs, as a kind of "spolia opima." 

Clavigero (Hist. Mex. ii. 161,) relates, that military deco- 
rations of three different kinds, were given to those persons 
who had distinguished themselves in war; and which entitled 
them to certain privileges ever afterwards in the kingdom. 
They were severally called princes, eagles, and tigers. 

The weapons used by the Mexicans, were the bow and ar- 
row, slings, clubs, spears and darts, which last were thrown 
with a strap, (Herrera, ii. 301,) as was anciently the prac- 
tice with the Greeks. They also made use of a weapon call- 
ed by them MaquahuitJ, and by the Spaniards a sword. It 
was a stout stick about three and a half feet in length, armed 
on two opposite sides with sharp pieces of flint or obsi- 



198 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



were buried near the temples, others in the fields and moun- 
tains; and the kings and chiefs, frequently directed their 
ashes to be preserved in the sanctuaries of the temples. 

Such were the funeral ceremonies used by the common 
people; but on the death of their kings and nobility, addi- 
tional forms were observed; which we do not deem neces- 
sary to describe, further, than they put slaves or servants to 
death, sometimes in great numbers, to attend these barbari- 
an lords in the future world. They killed the techichis as 
already described, and supplied the ashes with the gem for 
a heart in like manner. 

Most of the ceremonies used at the Mexican funerals, have 
been practised among rude nations in every part of the 
world; and the custom of depositing a stone or jewel with the 
remains, to answer the purpose of a heart, whimsical as it 
may seem, appears to have been equally the custom of some 
nations of the Eastern continent: Thus the Hindoos to this 
day, enclose a stone with the ashes of their dead,* apparent- 
ly to this intent. 

Mr. Pegge, in his observations on the Staunton Moor 
urns, (Arehaslogia, viii. 5S,) remarks, that in these druidi- 
cal monuments, which all contain burned human bones, is 
found a substance supposed to be mountain pitch, which is 
cut into the shape of a heart, and which it may be presumed 
was enclosed from superstitious motives, analogous to those 
of the Mexicans. 

Of the Mexican Wars. 

Previous to declaring war, an embassy of three or four no- 
ble and eloquent persons were sent to the hostile party, either 
to obtain redress, or to make demands. These ambassadors 
wore dresses and certain insignia, that manifested their cha- 
racter; and by the national law of Anahuac, their persons 
were inviolable, provided they did not leave the high-way. 

If no accommodation took place, they declared war, which 
was formally notified to the enemy by sending them several 
shields, &c. 

The Mexican army was composed of several corps of men 
which the Spaniards called companies, though they consist- 
ed of two or three hundred warriors. In a large army there 
were three grades of officers superior to the commanders of 
the companies, and inferior to the general in chief; but tbeir 
particular duties are not known at the present time. 

The discipline of their troops was strict; they marched 

* I have mislaid my authority for this fact, but believe it to have been one 
of the volumes of the Asiatic Researches. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



199 



and fought in close order, and it is said, they punished with 
death those who engaged the enemy without permission. 

Clavigero (Hist. Mex. ii. 170,) says a body of men during 
their battles, was stationed to act as a corps du reserve. He 
says in another page, that among the nations of Anahuac, the 
first battle was usually fought in a field appointed for that 
purpose. 

Though each company had its own standard, there was one 
which was considered the general standard of the army; and 
which appears to have been commonly tied to the back of the 
commander. 

These standards resembled the Roman signum, being 
staves of about eight or ten feet in length, on which the in- 
signia of the state, made of gold, feathers, &c, was placed. 
That of the Mexicans, according to Clavigero, was an eagle 
darting on a tiger; but I am inclined to think, there must be 
an error in our English translation of his history in this par- 
ticular; as an eagle devouring a serpent, was properly the 
arms or insignia of the Mexican nation. 

The chief object of their soldiers was to make prisoners, 
whom they afterwards sacrificed to their gods according to 
their bloody rites; and those persons were rewarded, who 
had taken the greatest number of prisoners. 

It does not appear to me, that the Mexicans took any par- 
ticular trophy from the dead. On one occasion, they cut off 
Ihe ears of those they made prisoners during a battle; (Cla- 
vig. Hist. Mex. i. 159,) but which practice does not appear 
to have been ever repeated. 

A prisoner that had been captured by a king, after he had 
been sacrificed to the gods of Mexico, was skinned with the 
head entire, and being stuffed with cotton, was hung up in 
some conspicuous place: but this custom seems to have been 
restricted to kingly triumphs, as a kind of "spolia opima." 

Clavigero (Hist. Mex. ii. 161,) relates, that military deco- 
rations of three different kinds, were given to those persons 
who had distinguished themselves in war; and which entitled 
them to certain privileges ever afterwards in the kingdom. 
They were severally called princes, eagles, and tigers. 

The weapons used by the Mexicans, were the bow and ar- 
row, slings, clubs, spears and darts, which last were thrown 
with a strap, (Herrera, ii. 301,) as was anciently the prac- 
tice with the Greeks. They also made use of a weapon call- 
ed by them Maquahuitl, and by the Spaniards a sword. It 
was a stout stick about three and a half feet in length, armed 
on two opposite sides with sharp pieces of flint or obsi- 



200 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



dian. * The blows with this weapon when first manufactured, 
were equal to those made with the Spanish sword; but a lit- 
tle use destroyed its effect other than as a club. They also 
used the macana, serrated with flints in this manner. (Her- 
rera, iii. 265.) 

Their spears w T ere sometimes eighteen feet in length, and 
were armed with pieces of copper, flints, sharp bones, and 
sometimes were hardened by a partial burning in the fire. 

Their martial music was made with drums, trumpets, and 
sea shells, with which they made a great noise, and by which 
they partly regulated their movements in time of action. 

To defend their bodies in time of battle, they carried shields 
made from various materials, and of different sizes; some of 
which were large enough to cover the whole person. They 
also wore an armour made of quilted cotton, which covered 
the body, thighs, and upper part of the arm. This was suf- 
ficient proof against arrows, and was adopted by the Spanish 
conquerors in their wars with the Mexicans. On this ar- 
mour, decorations of feathers, jewels, gold, &c. were osten- 
tatiously displayed, according to the ability of the soldier. In 
a few instances they appear to have used cuirasses made of 
plates of copper or silver, but they were of rare occurrence. 

On the head, they wore a helmet made of wood, or other 
material, and generally fashioned to represent the head of 
some ferocious animal, with expanded jaws and large teeth. 

Such was the armour and dress of soldiers of some rank 
and consideration; the common class of warriors were near- 
ly naked, and made up in paint, what was wanted in defen- 
sive armour. 

The Mexicans and Acolhuans had hospital establishments, 
provided for the reception of those persons, who had become 
disabled in war, or had grown superannuated in civil employ- 
ment. Such persons were sent to the cities of Colhuacan 
and Tezcuco, where they were for the remainder of their 
lives provided for by the king. (Clavige?-o i Hist. Mex. i. 
289,315.) 

We have no good description of their military fortifica- 
tions; Clavigero relates, that they defended themselves with 
walls, ramparts, breast-works, palisadoes, ditches and en- 
trenchments; but he nearly confines himself to this bare enu- 
meration. 

Their walls were strong and sometimes of considerable ex- 

* The natives of the Sandwich islands, (Cook, Voy. A". H. ii 348,) used an 
instrument like that of the Mexicans, its edges being serrated with shark's 
teeth. It was, however, of much smaller size, being only about a foot in 
length. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



201 



tent. The one built by the Tlascalans to protect their coun- 
try from Mexican invasion, was six miles in length, eight 
feet high, besides the breast work, and eighteen feet thick. 
It was made with stone and a strong cement of lime. 

Their ditches were deep and wide, so that drawbridges 
were necessary to pass them. It was this species of defence, 
that so long preserved Mexico against the attempts of Cortez 
and his numerous Indian allies. 

Of the Astronomical System of the Mexicans. 

Before we proceed to discourse concerning the Mexican 
astronomy, it seems proper, that we should make a few 
brief observations upon the hieroglyphical system, by which 
their computations and observations have been preserved 
until the present time. 

It is well known that the Toltecas, Mexicans, and other 
nations of Anahuac, were unacquainted with the art of al- 
phabetical writing. To supply the want of that admirable 
invention, they drew pictures, representing the historical 
events they wished to perpetuate, in a manner analogous to 
the plates, or engraved illustrations of our more popular 
writings. So far as a simple drawing could perpetuate an 
event, this method, though tedious, is sufficiently intelligible: 
but when the deeds of nations were to be recorded, or those 
of particular individuals illustrious for their virtues or 
achievements, their drawings became comparatively more 
intricate; for they designated the personages that appear in 
their paintings, by arbitrary marks or drawings, that either 
expressed their names phonetically, or else characterized 
them by a special device, which though at first of arbitrary 
use, had become by long practice universally understood.* 

To express the chronology of their history, they desig- 
nated along the margin of their books, hieroglyphical re- 
presentations of their years, as they followed each other in 
regular cyclic succession; to any one of which was connected 
a pictured representation of the event to be recorded, as 
having happened in that particular year. 

At the time of their subjection to the Spaniards, their 
system of hieroglyphic or rather picture representations, 
was evidently becoming more abstract; for they had begun 
to abridge their drawings, by representing only such parts 
of the object as was necessary to make it understood; and 

*Boturini is said to have found a quippos among the Tlascalans, the 
threads of which had been nearly destroyed by time. (Clavig. Hist. Mex. 
ii. 225.) I think it more probable this was a simple wampum belt, which 
they had received in some treaty with the northern barbarous Indians. 



202 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



for certain abstract things, they had devised special hiero- 
glyphics sufficiently intelligible. In this manner they de- 
signated the heavens, the earth, air, water, day, night, mid- 
night, the year, &c, so that in all probability in the course 
of time, if they had continued unknown to European cu- 
pidity, they would have brought their hieroglyphic system 
into one analogous to that of the Chinese. 

The numerals were expressed as far as 19, by as many 
round dots; the number twenty was represented by a parti- 
cular figure. The next hieroglyphic numeral denoted 400, 
and the fourth, which completes all that we now possess of 
their system of notation, represented 8000. With these 
arithmetical hieroglyphics, repeated as often as necessary, it 
is evident that any number may be expressed; though it is 
not improbable, they had other marks of greater numerical 
power, than the highest we have mentioned. 

By the methods we have thus described, they represented 
the history of their kings, designating the events of the 
year according to time and place, in accurate chronological 
order. And in a manner a little more artificial, they re- 
corded the facts and principles of their astronomy, their re- 
ligion, law, and moral economy. These pictured books are 
not very difficult to interpret with a moderate study of 
some elementary principles, and notwithstanding the vast 
quantity of them, destroyed by the brutal fanatacism of the 
Spanish conquerors, a sufficient number yet remain to estab- 
lish those facts, which we shall presently introduce to the 
reader's attention: and which have been derived from the 
writings of Acosta, Clavigero, Humboldt, and others. 

The Mexicans computed time, by two calendars of differ- 
ent construction; one of these called Reckoning of the Sun, 
was used for civil purposes, the other, or Reckoning of the 
Moon, was employed in regulating their religious festivals. 

To convey as distinct an idea as possible of Mexican as- 
tronomy, we must describe the two calendars separately; 
and first of the civil computation, or Reckoning of the 
Sun. 

Their civil year consisted of three hundred and sixty-five 
days, and was divided into eighteen months, of twenty days 
each. To the eighteenth or last month, the five epagomenes 
were added, which, as they did not belong to any month, 
were called by them nemontemi, "void or useless days." 

But as the tropical year is nearly six hours longer than 
three hundred and sixty-five days, the Mexicans lost a day 
every four years. Though they were aware of this circum- 
stance, they disregarded it until their cycle of fifty-two 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



203 



vague years had expired, by which time they had lost thir- 
teen days: they then intercalated that number of days, be- 
fore they commenced another cycle of fifty-two years. 

From this statement it will be seen, that the year com- 
menced differently every fourth year of the cycle of fifty- 
two vague years; so that the first year, commenced accord- 
ing to our time, on the ninth of January, but the last year 
of the cycle began on the twenty-seventh of December.* 

The eighteen months of the year had each a particular 
name; derived from some peculiar festival or employment, 
or from some bird, plant, or fruit, whose appearance was 
expected at certain seasons. We shall not enumerate them, 
as in the Mexican language they would be unintelligible, 
and it is out of our ability to translate them without some 
commentary; which would add unnecessarily to the discus- 
sions of this chapter. But we must observe, that each 
month, had its own characteristic hieroglyphical mark. 

The twenty days of the month, had each their specific 
name, also expressed by a regular hieroglyphic for each day, 
and we must also observe, that the same names for days, be- 
longed to every month of the year; a circumstance that oc- 
casioned no confusion, as the name of the month was always 
used in connexion with that of the day. 

Each month was divided into four periods of five days 
each, and on every fifth day, they held their markets or 
fairs. 

The day commenced with sunrising, and was divided into 
eight portions of time, a division recognised by the Hindus, 
Romans, &c. 

We must now observe, that the Mexicans did not reckon 
the chronological events of their history, from century to 
century, as is the practice of European nations; but accord- 
ing to the particular years of a cycle, containing fifty-two 
years. 

This period of fifty-two years, was called by them 
Xiuhmolpilli, and two of them formed another cycle called 
Cehuehuetiliztli, a duplication, that is observed by many 
writers upon Mexican antiquities, and which it is of some 
importance to remember. But to avoid the repetition of 
such long and unusual words, we shall speak of them as all 
writers have done preceding us, by calling the first a half 
century, and the latter a century. 

* Though I have followed Humboldt, or rather Gama, in this statement of 
the commencement of the year, I am far from being satisfied of its correct- 
ness. There is a great discrepancy among the Spanish writers on this point; 
and considering the exactness of the Mexican astronomy in all its particu- 
lars, I am inclined to think that the first year of the cycle of fifty-two years, 
commenced nearer the winter solstice, or twenty-second December. 



204 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



It has been already stated, that the civil year of the Mex- 
icans was a vague year of 365 clays; and that consequently 
they lost near six hours annually in their computation. At 
the end of their cycle of fifty-two years, these hours amount- 
ed to nearly thirteen days, which they then added to the 
fifty-two vague years, and thus adjusted their time to the 
tropical course of the sun. To this account we have only 
to add at present, that the cycle of fifty-two years was divi- 
ded into four parts, each called Tlapilli, and containing 
thirteen vague years. 

The manner by which they enumerated the different }^ears, 
composing the cycle of jifty-two years, was by a periodical 
series of two different sets of hieroglyphics; one of which 
consisted of four figures or hieroglyphics, and the other of 
thirteen round dots or marks, expressing numerals from one 
to thirteen; which it will be seen can never coincide to- 
gether, but once in fifty-two permutations. 

The four hieroglyphics we have mentioned, were in the 
Mexican language, Tochtli a rabbit; Acatl a reed; Tecpail 
a flint; and Calli a house; which invariably follow each other 
in the order we have enumerated them. Each expresses one 
year. But as they are accompanied by the numerical dots, 
it will be seen that no one hieroglyphic is attended with the 
same number of dots. 

To shew the peculiar composition of the cycle of fifty- 
two years, we shall exhibit in a tabular view the two series 
of hieroglyphic characters in their regular order of permu- 
tation. The words tochtli, acatl, &c, represent the figures 
of the rabbit, reed, &c, as depicted by the Mexicans; and 
the cyphers made with types of a C£ broad face," represent 
the number of dots or rounds, as they counted them from 
one to thirteen. The particular year of the cycle is shown 
by ordinary cyphers. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



205 



A MEXICAN CYCLE OF FIFTY-TWO YEARS. 





K| 

a 




en 




Kl 
CD 




Kj 

CO 




05 
"S 








P 
•"J 




to 

*"3 


1st Tlalpilli. 


o 
O 


2d Tlalpilli. 


o 


3d Tlalpilli. 


o 

"*> 

O 


4th Tlalpilli. 


Q 

r*> 

a 




o 




o 




o 




a 




CD 




cT 




ST 




© 


1 Tnrhtli. 


I 


1 Acatl. 


14 


1 Tecpatl. 


27 


1 Calli. 


40 


9 A rati 


2 


% Tecpatl. 


15 


2 Calli. 


28 


2 Tochtli. 


41 


3 Tecpatl. 


3 


3 Calli. 


16 


3 Tochtli. 


29 


3 Acatl. 


42 


4 Calli. 


4 


% Tochtli. 


17 


4 Acatl. 


30 


4 Tecpatl. 


43 


5 Tochtli. 


5 


S Acatl. 


18 


5 Tecpatl. 


31 


S Calli. 


44 


6 Acatl. 


6 


6 Tecpatl. 


19 


6 Calli. 


32 


6 Tochtli. 


45 


7 Tecpatl. 


7 


7 Calli. 


20 


7 Tochtli. 


33 


7 Acatl. 


46 


8 Calli. 


8 


8 Tochtli. 


21 


8 Acatl. 


34 


8 Tecpatl. 


47 


9 Tochtli. 


9 


9 Acatl. 


22 


9 Tecpatl. 


35 


9 Calli. 


48 


10 Acatl. 


10 


10 Tecpatl. 


23 


10 Calli. 


36 


10 Tochtli. 


49 


11 Tecpatl. 


11 


11 Calli. 


24 


11 Tochtli. 


37 


11 Acatl. 


50 


12 Calli. 1 


12 


12 Tochtli. 


25 


12 Acatl. 


38 


12 Tecaptl. 


51 


13 Tochtli. 1 


13 


13 Acatl. 


26 


13 Tecpatl. 


39 


13 Calli. 


> 52 



By this table it will be seen, that the four hieroglyphics 
Tochtli, (rabbit) Acatl, (reed) Tecpatl, (flint) and Calli, 
(house) though constantly repeated in succession, never oc- 
cur twice in the cycle of fifty-two years joined with the 
same numerical dots; for the series of 4 x 13, cannot coin- 
cide oftener than once in fifty-two revolutions. When an 
event occured according to the Mexican phrase in 1 Tochtli, 
it was the same, as saying in the first year of the cycle; if in 
5 Tochtli, which is the next time that hieroglyphic occurs, 
it was the fifth year; 9 Tochtli the ninth; 13 Tochtli the 
thirteenth; 4 Tochtli the seventeenth; 8 Tochtli the twen- 
ty-first year; and so on; as any one may understand by the 
inspection of our table. 

The numerical dots are not used beyond the number thir- 
teen, and when the series had extended thus far, the first 
tlalpilli had expired, which it does with 13 Tochtli. The 
second tlalpilli, begins with 1 Acatl, and terminates with 
13 Acatl. The third tlalpilli, begins with 1 Tecpatl, 
and uses the numerical dots in like manner to 13 Tecpatl-, 
and the fourth tlalpilli, begins with 1 Calli, and ends 
with 13 Calli. With this last, the Xiuhmolpilli or cycle 
of fifty-two years terminated. Then followed the thirteen 
intercalary days, expressed by that number of round dots, 
which compensate for the six hours they had annually lost, 
since the commencement of the cycle. After they had run 
out, a new cycle commenced with 1 Tochtli, &c. &c, as we 
have just shewn. 
27 



206 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



By the above statement it will be seen, that the years of 
different cycles of fifty-two years, might be confounded to- 
gether, unless their system also distinguished each cycle by 
some distinct hieroglyphic mark. The Abbe Clavigero 
thought, that the method by which this confusion was avoid- 
ed, has been lost to us; but Humboldt {Research, i. 300) 
tells us, that they distinguished their cycles from each other 
by numerical dots. "Thus the hieroglyphic of the Xiuh- 
molpilli, followed by four rounds, (or dots,) shewed the 
Mexicans that four cycles of fifty-two years had elapsed 
from the Sacrifice at Tlalixco:" an epoch in their history, 
from whence they made their chronological computations. 

We now pass to the description of the Religious Calendar, 
or Reckoning of the Moon. 

This Calendar, which was used by the priests for the re- 
gulation of their festivals, presents a series of periods of 
thirteen days, formed by the periodic alternation of thirteen 
numerical dots, and the twenty hieroglyphics of the days of 
the months, by which a cycle of 260 days is formed, for 
13 X 20 =260. This period has been called their Religious 
Year. 

Seventy-three cycles of 260 days, amount to 18,980 days; 
which is precisely the number contained in the half century 
of 52 years, in which great cycle, both their civil and reli- 
gious computations terminate. 

As these two calendars have been evidently framed to 
gratify a superstitious fancy in the use of particular num- 
bers, we beg leave to call the reader's attention to the various 
numbers. Their cycle of fifty-two years, was divided into 
four periods of thirteen years; thirteen months of twenty 
days, formed their religious cycle of 260 days; and periods 
of thirteen days, constitute the smallest reckonings of their 
Religious Calendar. 

Each tlapilli, or period of thirteen vague years, also con- 
tains three hundred and sixty-five periods of thirteen days. 

The Civil Year contained eighteen months, of twenty 
days, each divided into four weeks, or periods of five days. 

The cycle of fifty-two years, was divided into four pe- 
riods of thirteen years, as before stated; but it was further 
divided into thirteen periods, of four years each. At the 
commencement of these quadriennial cycles, they made ex- 
traordinary festivals; and the whole fourth year was called 
a divine year. It always bore the sign of the rabbit. 

The number seventy-three, occurs but in one instance; 
but as we are of the opinion, that they had particular rea- 
sons for using it, which we shall hereafter shew; we must 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



207 



call the attention of the reader to the fact, that seventy -three 
periods of 260 days, equals the days of the cycle of fifty- 
two years; a circumstance remarked by Clavigero. {Hist. 
Mex. i. 334.) 

Before we proceed in our discussion concerning the prin- 
ciples of the Mexican astronomy, we must observe, that 
Baron Humboldt has made us acquainted with a particular 
series in alternation with the numbers 13X20 composing 
the cycle of 260 days; which we purposely omitted descri- 
bing when speaking of that cycle; because we cannot give 
an unhesitating assent to the explanation of its use as con- 
jectured by him. 

This third series, known by the names of Lords of the 
Night; consists of nine hieroglyphics. It has been over- 
looked by Europo-Mexican antiquaries, until the late Mr. 
Gama, a celebrated Mexican astronomer, made them known 
a few years since; and as far as we know, alone by the me- 
dium of Humboldt's writings. 

It is said by this eminent traveller, (Res. i. 314,) that the 
use of the Lords of the Night, arises from the following 
circumstance. The cycle of 260 days is composed from the 
periodic alternations of 13 and 20, or 13 X 20 = 260; but as 
the civil year contained 105 days more than the cycle of 260 
days, it might happen, that some confusion would ensue 
upon the repetition of the same terms for the remaining 105 
days of the year; and that to avoid this source of confusion, 
they used in connexion with the terms 13 and 20, nine hiero- 
glyphics, which render it impossible, that the three series 
can coincide twice in the same year. He further observes, 
that the Mexicans appear to have chosen the number nine, 
from the facility with which it is divided forty times into 
360 days. 

It is with great diffidence, that I venture to dissent from 
so great an authority as Baron Humboldt; but when the great 
exactness and care, manifest in the construction of the Mexi- 
can cycles is taken into consideration, it seems to me impos- 
sible, that in the use of the Lords of the Night, they should 
abruptly terminate a cycle with 360 revolutions, whose na- 
tural period of termination, is evidently 2340 days; for 13X 
20x9—2340. It is true,Baron Humboldt states, that ths series 
of the Lords of the Night, were not used with the nemontemi 
or epagomenes of the Mexican year; and in this I presume 
lies the error: for undoubtedly the cycles of 260 days con- 
stantly succeded each other, until the half century of 52 
years closed; without any regard of the nemontemi , which 
belong alone to the civil computation. 



203 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



I incline therefore to the opinion, that there has been some 
defect, in the information the Baron received from Gama's 
discovery, and believe that the Lords of the Night, were used 
in connexion with the cycles of 260 days, in order to throw 
them into the larger cycles of 2340 days, of which eight, 
with the addition of one of 260 days, constitute the cycle of 
52 years. 

1 might support this opinion with arguments drawn from 
other analogies of the Mexican astronomy, but am too fear- 
ful of expressing myself upon a subject, where all the know- 
ledge I possess, is drawn from the brief statement of Baron 
Humboldt. If what has been said, will induce a more rigor- 
ous examination of this third series, my purpose will be 
answered. 

From what has been observed concerning the Mexican 
calendars, it is evident that they have been all constructed 
to complete or extend the cycle of 52 years, whose peculiar 
intercalation testifies, that the knowledge possessed by this 
people of the length of the tropical year, was surprisingly 
accurate. It is undeniable, at any rate, that their error was 
greater than 11' 12", but if we adopt the account derived 
from Gama; {Humboldt, Res. i. 390,) it will follow, that 
they estimated the tropical year at 365 d - 5 h * 46' 9"; which 
will be but 2' 39" different from the most accurate Eu- 
ropean observations, which state its length to be 365 d * 5 h - 
48' 48". 

The intercalation of thirteen days to 52 vague years, 
estimates the year to be 365 days, 12 hours; but it is more 
than probable, that the Mexicans ingeniously intercalated but 
twelve days and a half to their cycle of 52 years, which will 
give a duration of 365 d * 5 h 46' 9" to each year. In 
either case, the approximation to real time is surprising; and 
as the investigation is highly interesting, we will endeavour 
to establish the fact, that they intercalated but I2i days. 

If the Mexican year was estimated at 365 days, 6 hours, it 
is apparent, that from the time their calendar was reformed 
at Tlalixco,* A. D. 1091, to the time when the Spaniards in- 
vaded Mexico, A. D. 1519, there must have been an error 
of more than three days in time. But from the calculations 
made by Gama upon eclipses,! and records of the days when 
the sun passes the zenith of Mexico, preserved in the Mexi- 

* This epoch was the foundation of the Mexican chronology, from which 
was counted all the events of their history, according to the number of cy- 
cles of 52 years, that had elapsed since that time; which was their nrst arri- 
val in Anahuac. _ ,. 

t We may observe, that the Mexicans understood the causes ol eclipses, 
as may be seen in the hieroglyphics published by Clavigero and Humboldt, 
where the disks of the sun and moon are projected on each other at the times 
of such phenomena. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



209 



can hieroglyphic paintings, as well as upon remarkable events 
occurring during the time of the conquest, no such error of 
three days could be detected. 

Now as it does not appear in the Mexican history, that any 
reformation was made of their calendar since the memorable 
one at Tlalixco, and that the thirteen intercalary days were 
regularly added to the end of every cycle of 52 years, it will 
follow almost conclusively, since no error can be observed 
during the lapse of four centuries, that Gama was correct in 
his statement, that the Mexicans intercalated but twelve days 
and a half, at the close of their cycles of fifty-two years. 
This he thinks was accomplished in the following manner. 
He supposes the Secular Festival, every 52 years, was cele- 
brated day and night alternately; i. e. if the years of one cy- 
cle of 52 years began at midnight, the following cycle began 
at noon; and thus though nominally thirteen intercalary 
days were interposed between the two cycles, in reality there 
were but twelve and a half. 

This fact he considers may be deduced from the Spanish 
writers of the sixteenth century; but we are unacquainted 
with all his arguments upon this point. 

Baron Humboldt, from whom we have derived the fore- 
going information, {Res. i 391,) declares himself incompe- 
tent to decide positively on the fact of the intercalation of 
12i days, from an ignorance of the Mexican language, in 
which tongue most of the authorities to which Gama refers 
are written. He therefore postpones the establishment of the 
point in question, until that astronomer's treatise upon Tol- 
teck and Mexican chronology be printed. But he passes a 
high encomium upon Gama's industry, perseverance, and ac- 
curacy in astronomical science, which indeed he had himself 
verified; and he further declares, that Gama's opinions ought 
to inspire great confidence; that he would never have lightly 
hazarded an hypothesis, had he not been led to it by a care- 
ful comparison of dates, and the study of hieroglyphic paint- 
ings. 

Though there is every reason to believe, that Gama is cor- 
rect in his supposition, for he was not only an able astrono- 
mer, but well acquainted with the Mexican hieroglyphic 
paintings, as well as their language; yet we have circum- 
stantial evidence from another quarter, which seems to de- 
clare expressly that the Mexicans knew the correct length of 
the tropical year, to within a very small fraction. This in- 
formation, as we receive it at second hand, we shall relate in 
the words of Humboldt (Res. i. 395.) "On opening at 
Rome the Codex Borgianus of Veletri, I there found the cu- 



210 OF THE INSTITUTIONS 

rious passage from which the Jesuit Fabrega concluded, that 
the Mexicans had knowledge of the real duration of the tro- 
pical year. Twenty cycles of 52 years, or 1040 years, are 
there indicated in four pages: at the end of this great period, 
we see the sign rabbit, tochtli, immediately precede among 
the hieroglyphics of the days, the sign bird, cozquauhtli; so 
that seven days are suppressed: viz. those of water, the dog, 
ape, grass, [malinalli) the reed, jaguar, and eagle. Fa- 
brega supposes in his manuscript commentary, that this omis- 
sion refers to a periodical reform of the Julian intercalation, 
because a substraction of seven days, at the end of a cycle of 
1040 years, reduces, by an ingenious method, a year of 
365.25 days, to a year of 365.243 days, which is only 1' 26"* 
greater, than the real mean year, as it is laid down in the ta- 
bles of Delambre." 

"After the examination of a great number of hieroglyphic 
paintings of the Mexicans, and having seen the extreme care 
with which they are executed in the minutest details, we can- 
not admit, that the omission of seven terms in a periodical 
series, is owing to mere chance. Fabrega' s observation, with- 
out doubt, deserves notice here; not that it is probable, that a 
nation should in reality employ a reform of the calendar only 
after long periods of 1040 years, but because the manuscript 
of Veletri seems to prove, that its author was acquainted with 
the real duration of the year."t 

Thus we have shewn from two different sources of com- 
putation, with every appearance of truth, that the Toltecs or 
Mexicans, or from whomsoever their astronomical system 
was derived, did know previous to the Spanish conquest, the 

*If I am correct in my calculation, the Mexican year was somewhat lon- 
ger than stated by Baron Humboldt; or 1' 30" 27'", instead of V 26", as print- 
ed in the English translation. 

t While calculating the elements laid down by Humboldt from Fabrega as 
above quoted, I was struck with the following circumstances, which are deem- 
ed of sufficient importance to lay before the reader. Estimating the Mexi- 
can year at 365 days, 6 hours, as the intercalation of 13 days every 52 years 
will require, it will be seen, that the 6 hours of excess for each year of the 
period 1040 years described by Fabrega, will amount exactly to 260 days. 
Now as the period of 260 days, was an important one in the Mexican compu- 
tation, it occurred to me, that there might be a greater cycle recognised in 
their astronomical system than we were aware of, to which 260 days would 
be as an intercalation. On reducing the 1040 years to days, which amount 
to 379,600, exclusive of the 6 hours of annual excess, and dividing by the cy- 
cle of 260 days, it will be found that this cycle is contained 1460 times in 
1040 years: if to this we add the intercallary days, the number will be 1461 ; 
which is the number of the Sothaic period. 

This circumstance I think tends to prove, that the numbers 1460 and 1461, 
were not of accidental use among the Mexicans, as Humboldt has already- 
supposed, on finding it in the number of half lunations or periods of 13 days, 
which compose the cycle of 52 years. {Humboldt, Res. i. 296, and ii. 226, for 
observation of Jomard.) 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



211 



true length of the tropical year to an immaterial fraction. 
The singular train of ideas to which this circumstance gives 
rise, we must defer investigating, until we have prepared our 
way by some examination of the astronomical systems of the 
eastern continent; when we shall be enabled to appreciate 
the Mexican calendars to much greater advantage. 

I am unacquainted with any division of time, analogous 
to the civil calendar of the Mexican year, which consisted of 
eighteen months, or rather periods of twenty days each. 
But however differently the nations of the eastern continent 
may now arrange their months, in comparison with those of 
the Mexicans, yet I think it not improbable, that anciently 
they did arrange them after a more analogous system. This 
may be inferred, from finding the week of Jive days in use 
among certain people of India, the Indian islands, &c, 
which as far as I have been able to examine, are very an- 
cient periods of time, not belonging to the calendar arrange- 
ments at present recognized by them. 

To exhibit this subject in its strongest light, we must re- 
peat, that the Mexican months of twenty days, were divided 
into four weeks of Jive days each, and on the first day of 
each week was held their market or fair. ( Clavigero, Hist. 
Mex. i. 335, Appendix.') 

As an analogous period of time, we observe, that in the 
institutes of Menu, (Sir Wm. Jones's works, vii. 296,) it 
is directed, "once in Jive nights, or at the close of every 
half month, let the king make a regulation for market prices 
in the presence of experienced men." 

If any thing be considered ambiguous in the above ex- 
pressions, it is completely elucidated by the following quo- 
tation from Raffles, (Hist. Java, i. 475,) confirmed by Craw- 
furd. (Ind. Jirchip. i. 289.) "The Javanese have a week 
of Jive days, which is common throughout the country, and 
by which the markets are universally regulated; this week is 
by far the most ancient, as well as the most generally adopted 
among them." 

I know of no other people with whom this period is in 
use,* excepting those of Benin in Africa, which is thus de- 
scribed. . (Mod. Univ. Hist. xiii. 292.) "The sabbath, or 
day of repose with the people of Benin, returns every Jifth 
day, which is celebrated as a festival, with sacrifices, offer- 
ings, and entertainments." 

It would be a curious matter to ascertain if possible, the 
evolution of these periods of five days among these different 

* Did the Chinese anciently reckon time also by periods of five days? 
Morrison, (Chinese Diet. i. 49,) says, they call the fifteenth night of the 
moon, "third fifth." 



212 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



nations, and learn what greater periods they compose; which 
I entertain the hope, some reader of this page may be ena- 
bled to execute from a local opportunity. 

Of more doubtful inference we also observe the following 
peculiar expression in the Havamaal or sublime discourses 
of Odin. (Mallet's North. Jlntiq. ii. 210.) "Peace among 
the perfidious continues for Jive nights to shine bright as a 
flame, but when the sixth night approaches, it waxes dim." 

Now if there was such a week in use, we can see the pro- 
priety in adopting the sentiment of Odin to the shortest 
acknowledged period of time, and which would be the na- 
tural thought of any person discoursing on such a subject; 
and if it is remembered, that the most approved theory sup- 
poses, that both the Edda and Odin himself came from 
Asia, where we have shewn the week of five days was in 
common use, there is no improbability of its having been 
thus carried to Scandinavia. 

It is also probable, that the Etruscans recognized periods 
of five days; for we find that after the death of Romulus, 
(Livy, lib. i. cap. xviii.) the senate were divided into bodies 
of ten members, who administered the government for Jive 
days at a time, in regular rotation for a whole year. This 
feature in the appointment of an inter-rex, was ever after 
maintained. 

We may also call to the reader's recollection, that the 
nones of the Roman months for eight out of the twelve, 
were on the fifth day. 

Almost all the nations of antiquity, reckoned their years 
to contain three hundred and sixty days, to which five 
epagomenes were added. 

An institution decidedly analogous to the astronomical 
calendar of the Mexicans, is to be found in the cycle of 
sixty years, used by the Hindus, Chinese, and the Indo- 
Chinese nations generally, for their chronological computa- 
tions. 

To exhibit these features of resemblance, we shall throw 
into a table the cycle of sixty years as used by the Chinese; 
which is framed by the periodic alternation of two sets of 
characters, one called by them the ten stems, shih-kan, and 
the other, the twelve branches, te-che. (Morrison's View 
of China, 3.) These two series we shall represent, one by 
the Roman, the other by arithmetical numbers. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



213 



THE CHINESE CYCLE OF SIXTY YEARS. 






















«J 












P 






» 






p 




CD 


















p 










P 
*1 






. p 
*t 






O 






o 






o 




o 






o 












►*> 






"-•a 






















a 






O 










O 






*-< 




























£- 






rs 




























«T 










CD* 








I 


i 


1 


I 


3 


13 




5 


25 


I 7 


37 


1 


9 


49 


II 




2 


II 


4 


14 


II 


6 


26 


II 8 


38 


II 


10 


50 


III 


3 


3 


III 


5 


15 


III 


7 


27 


III 9 


39 


III 


1 


51 


IV 
1 V 


4 


4 


IV 


v> 


1 0 


IV 


3 






Aft 


IV 


2 


o« 


V 


5 


5 


V 


7 


n 


V 


9 


29 


V 1 


41 


V 


3 


53 


VI 


6 


6 


VI 


8 


18 


VI 10 


30 


VI 2 


42 


VI 


4 


54 


VII 


7 


7 


VII 


9 


19 


VII 


1 


31 


VII 3 


43 


VII 


5 


55 


VIII 


8 


8 


VIII 


10 


20 


VIII 




32 


VIH 4 


44 


Vlll 6 


56 


IX 


9 


9 


IX 


1 


21 


IX 


3 


33 


IX 5 


45 


IX 


7 


57 


X 


10 


10 


X 


2 


22 


X 


4 


34 


X 6 


46 


X 


8 


58 


XI 


1 


1 I 


XI 


3 


23 


XI 


5 


35 


xi 7 


47 


XI 


9 


59 


XII 


2 


12 


XII 


4 


24 


XII 


© 


36 


xii 8 


48 


Xll 10 


60 



I have thrown this table into form, by using the twelve 
branches as the first series, which more distinctly shews the 
five cycles of twelve years, of which this greater one is 
composed, and by which so many nations of Asia compute 
their time. These cycles of twelve years, are precisely 
analogous to the Tlalpilli, or cycles of thirteen years used 
by the Mexicans; and any one comparing the Mexican 
cycle (page 205,) with that of the Chinese, will at once per- 
ceive the great points of resemblance that characterize their 
construction. 

This cycle of sixty years, or that of twelve, its fifth part, 
is in exclusive use from Hindostan to Japan, in estimating 
the chronology of their history; and I presume, there is lit- 
tle evidence wanting to prove, that it anciently extended all 
over Asia. In the course of time, and the revolutions of 
empires, many changes and modifications have occured, by 
which the peculiar composition of this cycle has been altered 
or mutilated, though it still preserves those features of iden- 
tity, by which it can be easily recognized. 

Some of the eastern nations, apply the names of the Zo- 
daical signs to their cycle of twelve years, {Raffles, Java, i. 
478,) which they at present do not understand as having 
any reference to the apparent motion of the sun. Among 
others, as the Japanese, Tartars, &c, the twelve years are 
known by the names of animals, whose character do not 
28 



214 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



imply any astronomically significant use.* These different 
people when speaking of any event of past history, express 
themselves as in the following instance; [Jibul Ghazi, i. 
146 ) "Gengis Khan was born in the year of the Hegira 
559, called the Hog, was proclaimed Khan in the same 
year of the Hog, and died in the 624th, which the Mongols 
call the Hen, having lived 65 years, &c." 

We must observe, that there is a departure in the strict- 
ness of analogy, between the Mexican cycle and that of the 
Asiatic nations in their subdivisions; lor the first divides 
into fourths, and the latter into fifths. This discrepancy 
which we think we shall be able to account for, at least in 
part, in the ensuing pages, is of no material importance, as 
affecting the general analogies of the two systems; and we 
should not have taken this notice of it, but to introduce the 
conjecture, that possibly some of the western Asiatic nations, 
did anciently divide the cycle of sixty years into fourths, or 
periods of fifteen years, and from this source it became in- 
troduced into the Roman computation, as the Indiction; a 
period of time whose origin has so much puzzled legal anti- 
quarians. 

The only certain point in the history of the Indiction, I 
believe is, that it was never heard of until the seat of Roman 
empire was established at Constantinople; and there border- 
ing on Oriental kingdoms, whose computations were so much 
regulated by such cycles, the Romans became acquainted 
with the period, or else they invented it in imitation of the 
cycle of twelve years, which we have every reason to believe 
once prevailed all over the east. 

Though we have some important observations to make 
both upon the Mexican cycle of fifty-two years, and that of 
the Asiatics of sixty years, we must for a time omit their 
consideration, until we have brought the religious calendar 
and its analogies, to the same point where we now leave the 
civil computation: for as they both terminate in the same pe- 
riod or cycle of 52 years, our reasoning upon that cycle can 
then be more clearly understood. 

The religious calendar, as already described, page 206, was 
composed of small periods of thirteen days, twenty of which 
made the cycle of 260 days; and of these last periods, seven- 
ty-three made the great cycle of 52 years, or 18,980 days. 

* The names of the years among the Japanese and Tartars are as follow: 

1. the Rat. 1- the Horse. 

2. " Ox. 8. " Sheep. 

3. " Tiger. 9. " Ape. 

4. " Hare. 10. " Hea 

5. " Dragon. II. " Dog 

6. " Serpent. 12. " Hog. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



215 



What it was, that established the predilection for the pe- 
riod of thirteen days, as well as for the number thirteen, 
which is involved with so much ingenuity into various cycles 
and combinations, belonging to their period of 52 years, is no 
easy matter to determine. The solution of this question has 
from a faint analogy, been referred to a rude attempt to di- 
vide the moon's revolutions into halves; but it seems an in- 
surmountable difficulty to reconcile this imperfect idea of a 
lunation, with the precise and accurate knowledge of celestial 
motions, they have displayed in every other part of their as- 
tronomic calendars. But as some distinguished writers have 
expressed themselves favourable to such a conjecture, we shall 
produce the most direct analogies we have been able to dis- 
cover among the computations of other nations; for they are 
certainly analogies, whether they be half lunations or not. 

The Mexicans are supposed (Humboldt, Res. i. 295,) to 
have derived these periods from "the two states of watching 
and sleep, that they considered characterised the revolution 
of the moon. And the relation observed between the periods 
of thirteen days, and the half of the time that the moon is 
visible before and after her opposition, has undoubtedly given 
to the ritual calendar, the name of reckoning of the moon," 
&c. 

The Hindoos, in both particulars, have periods analogous 
to those related above of the Mexicans; they speak of the 
bright and dark sides of the moon, which constitute the day 
and night of the pitris, the bright side being appointed for 
their labours, and the dark one for sleeping. (Maurice, 
Hist. Hind. i. 138.) 

A further analogy to the Mexican custom may be found in 
the Hindu calendar, (Asiat. Res. iii. 261,) in which the months 
are divided into two periods of fifteen days each; by which 
all their different festivals are regulated, in a manner very 
similar indeed to those of the Mexicans. 

Besides the Hindoos, many other eastern people divide the 
month into periods of fifteen days-, such as the Burmas, 
Chinese, Japanese, Tartars, &c, and I presume the Cantabri- 
ans of Spain; for it is said, (Laborde's View of Spain, ii. 
383,) that they divided the month, into the ascending and 
descending moon. 

Though it is the general opinion, that these numbers fif- 
teen and thirteen, have their origin in half lunations, it seems 
to me an incredible supposition, when we consider the per- 
fection of their science in its other parts. A single twelve 
months experience would demonstrate the error, and if they 
were so careful in correcting their time, that six hours in 



216 OP THE INSTITUTIONS 

the whole year, were provided for by a special intercalation, 
it would be very extraordinary indeed, that a grosser error 
in every month was allowed to pass unheeded. Therefore, 
I cannot consider the periods of fifteen days, that are in use 
among various nations of Asia, or the thirteen days period of 
the Mexicans, to be half lunations, but that they are. astro- 
nomical periods, artificially compounded in their cyclic sys- 
tems, to suit the intercalations of those tropical periods. 

Thus it seems to me, in every instance, that these small 
periods of days, have been established from a knowledge of 
the real length of the year, and to provide for a regular inter- 
calation of the hours, by which solar time exceeds that of 
the apparent year. Why these nations have selected those 
particular numbers we know not, but it is evident, that they 
bear this determinate proportion to the number of the years 
of their cycles. 

The first time in a series of years, that an intercalary day 
could be used, would be after the lapse of four years, or as 
expressed in the following table, for a period of 60 years, &c. 



Intercalary Days. Years. Intercalary Days. Tears. 

1 after 4 9 after 36 

2 " 8 10 " 40 

3 " 12 11 " 44 

4 " 16 12 " 48 

5 " 20 13 " 52 

6 " 24 14 " 56 

7 " 28 15 " 60 

8 " 32 &c. &c. 



Now if any people computed their time by a cycle of vague 
years, it will be seen by the foregoing table, which may be 
extended to any length, that an intercalation could be made 
according to any particular fancy of number, that either 
science or superstition might deem proper. Of these, the 
Mexicans have selected No. 13, and made their cycle to con- 
sist of 52 years. The Hindus, Chinese, &c, have preferred 
No. 15, and proportionably thereto, a cycle of 60 years. 

That this is the true principle, by which these periods of 
thirteen and fifteen days, have been selected, I hold con- 
firmed by the exhibition we are now to make of the Persian 
intercalary period of 120 years, which moreover offers a 
stronger analogy in its entire systematic construction, with 
the Mexican cycle, than the Asiatic cycle of 60 years,, which 
we have already used in our comparison. 

The ancient Persian year consisted of twelve months, each 
of thirty days; and five epagomenes, making a vague year of 
three hundred and sixty-fiv r e days. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE 



217 



Each of the twelve months bore the name of a genius or 
subaltern deity; and each day of the month, was in like man- 
ner designated after thirty genii. Like the Mexican system, 
these thirty names of days were common to each month of 
the year; and further in analogy, among the names of the 
days were the twelve names of the genii, who presided over 
the months. On the day in each month, that bore the same 
name with the month, was the principal festival of that 
month celebrated. 

But the Persian year being thus only 365 days, it fell short 
of real time near six hours annually, which were not regard- 
ed until 120 vague years had elapsed, and the hours of excess 
had amounted to thirty days. They then intercalated that 
number of days, in a manner precisely analogous with the 
Mexican system, before commencing a new cycle. 

Thus not only an identity of origin may be seen in these 
two cyclic computations, but the proportions between the 
number of the years of the cycle, and the intercalary period, 
are adjusted on the^same principle; so that the one consti- 
tutes the first, or smallest period of time, and the other the 
highest, or the most multiplied term of small pe'riods. And 
it is also evident, that both systems have been most ingeni- 
ously framed, upon an exact knowledge of the length of the 
tropical year. 

To exhibit the close resemblance between the Mexican 
and Persian systems of computation, we beg leave with a 
little license, to throw them into a tabular form. 

The Old Age of the Mexicans, years 104 Persian period. years 120 
its half or period of 52 its half or cycle of 60 

the fourth of 52 (tlalpilli.) 13 1-5 of cycle of 60 years, 12 

Intercalary days for 52 years, days IS Intercalary days for 120 

years, days 30 

Small periods of thirteen days, or Periods of thirty days, their 

lowest term of computation. lowest period of compu- 

tation. 

The license we have claimed, is in the introduction of the 
cycle of sixty years, and its divisions, as a part of the Per- 
sian computation; and this we have no doubt is both correct 
and proper, for the systems are evidently the same. 

We think, also, that we can perceive the motive that in- 
fluenced the Persians to use the cycle of 120, rather than 
that of 60 years; which at first sight, seems to offer all the 
advantages of its double number; and we offer it as a proba- 
ble opinion, that the Persians did with this cycle of 120 
years, what the Mexicans did with their Old Jige of 104 
years, or double period of 52 years: that is, they intercala- 
ted but twenty-nine days in 120 years, instead of thirty 



21S 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



days, which was the nominal intercalation. In this manner 
the Mexicans nominally intercalated twenty-six davs every 
104 years; but in reality only twenty-five. Unless this was 
originally the Persian system, I see no use in doubling the 
cycle of 60 years, which admits the intercalation of half 30, 
or 15 days, without fractions. But there are other conside- 
rations which we shall state confirming this supposition. 

We have observed in a former page, that the history of 
America constitutes ah essential part of the history of the 
material world, as well as of mankind generally; and the 
mysteries that hang over these subjects, can only be eluci- 
dated, by considering them in their most extended relations 
with the other parts. We have just seen a most pointed re- 
semblance between the astronomical systems of Persia and 
Mexico, which at first sight, seems to involve the greatest em- 
barrassment in discovering the reasons of the analogy. We 
apprehend however there is no real difficulty to overcome, 
and we shall now lay before the reader the solution which 
we have presumed meets the case exactly. 

We have hitherto spoken of the Persian computation of 
time, as if alone peculiar to that most ancient people; but 
we do not think that originally this was the fact, but that 
they had retained in a greater degree than other nations of 
Asia, an essential part of an astronomical system, which 
originally was common to all postdiluvian nations; and of 
which traces are to be observed among all the oriental peo- 
ple, with whom the cycle of sixty years is in use. During 
the lapse of ages, the confusion of civil and foreign wars, 
and those multiplied causes of error that are to be found in 
the history of all ancient kingdoms, we presume the dex- 
terous contrivance, of intercalating 29 days in 120 years, has 
been lost, and that other Asiatic nations than the Persians, 
seeing no advantage in the cycle of 120 years, permitted it 
to be neglected or forgotten. At the same time, they have 
altered their intercalations from being cyclic, or after long 
intervals of time, to the one used by ourselves after every 
four years. But that originally, this period was 120 years 
among all these Asiatic nations, we deem to be established by 
the following considerations; which though seemingly a lit- 
tle out of place, we are forced to introduce in the present 
page, as illustrating, and as being illustrated by, the Mexi- 
can astronomical system. 

Among the various cycles used by ancient astronomers, is 
one consisting of 600 years; whose invention Josephus has 
with every probability, referred to the times preceding the 
deluge; but which in after times, may be considered as known 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



219 



among the Chaldeans, as their cycle called the neros.* The 
celebrated astronomer Cassini, was the first who paid any at- 
tention to the statement of Josephus; and on an examination 
of the period, found it a luni-solar cycle, evidently construct- 
ed upon a correct knowledge of the revolutions of the sun 
and moon. "He found, {Bailly, Hist. Astron. i. 66,) 
that 7421 lunar revolutions of 29 d - 12 h - 44' 3", amount to 
219,146i days; and that this number of days, make 600 so- 
lar years of 365 d - 5 h - 51' 36"; which differs by less than three 
minutes from the observations of the present day." 

Upon this cycle of 600 years, Bailly (Histoire de UAs- 
tron. i. 69,) makes the following reflections: "This period, 
this exact length of the year of 365 d - 5 h - 51' 36", requires 
intercalations. The year proper, without doubt, consisted 
of twelve months of thirty days, with five days added to 
the end of the last month, according to the usages of all 
the eastern nations. But 600 years of 365 days make but 
219.000 days, while the period contains 219, 146j. There 
were therefore 146 days added in some manner or other to 
the period. The most natural intercalation, is that of a day 
every four years, as is done in our bissextile years; an inter- 
calation of the greatest antiquity in China, among the Hin- 
dus; and we find traces of it likewise in Egypt. But the 
intercalation of a day every four years during 600 years, 
will make 150 days; whereas the period only contains 146 
such days. There is therefore an appearance, that every 150 
years they suppressed an intercalary day, or if we may use 
the term a bissextile year, as we ourselves do every 100 
years. These 150 years may have formed a period, which 
we may meet with elsewhere." 

It appears to me, however, that we are able to shew in what 
manner, the intercalations for this cycle of 600 years were 
made, which Bailly was unable to discover; and in a man- 
ner decidedly characterising the great perfection of astrono- 
mical science in the antediluvian ages; a fact, which that 
great and learned astronomer has the honour of having first 
demonstrated to the world, about fifty years ago. 

We consider, that the cycle of 600 years, was not divided 
into four periods of 150 years, as Bailly has conjectured, but 

* That the Neros was a period of 600 years, is testified by Syncellus, 
Abydenus, and Alexander Polyhistor. (Chronologie de Freret, 14. Maurice, 
Anet. Hind i. 299.) 

Pliny, (Chron. de Freret, 29,) says, Hipparchus published tables of the mo- 
tions of the sun and moon for 600 years; "utriusque sideris cursum in sex- 
centos annos praecinuit Hipparchus " He no doubt stole these calculations 
from the Chaldeans, whose astronomy he had examined; and, like a Greek, 
made them known as his own diseovery. 



220 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



into five periods of 120 years; which division of time, the 
Persians and Chaldeans alone, appear to have retained in 
their cyclic computations. And one reason for making this 
peculiar division into fifths, appears to have been, that they 
might by a dexterous management analogous to the practice 
of the Mexicans, intercalate in the cycle of 600 years, 145 
days; or 29 days every 120 years, as conjectured page 217.* 
That the number 120, had in these very remote times, 
some intelligible and common use in chronology or astrono- 
my, may be inferred from several circumstances. Thus the 
Chaldean astrologers said, 120 sari had elapsed from the be- 
ginning of the world to the deluge of Xisthurus. (Freret. 
Chronol. 14.) We have already discoursed concerning the 
Persian period of 120 years; and we will further observe 
that the Bible itself, in the narration of antediluvian history, 
evidently uses this period of time, when it says, (Genesis, 
vi. 3. ) "And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always! strive 
with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be one 
hundred and twenty years." The force of this expres- 
sion, and its happy application to the event, which we sup- 
pose occured at the time this denunciation was made, will 
be at once perceived, when we observe, that the commence- 
ment of every great cycle among the more ancient nations, 

* Before we proceed further with this cycle, we think it necessary to shew, 
that the division of periods of time into fifths, is not an arbitrary conjec- 
ture to suit this emergency, but that many analogies directly support it. 
Thus the cycle of 60 years at present in use among the Hindus, Chinese, &c. 
is divided into Jive periods of twelve years; which I consider a fraction of the 
great cycle of 600 years, divided by homogeneous numbers; and bearing no 
reference whatever to the revolution of the planet Jupiter, to whom the 
cycle of twelve years is commonly supposed to refer. 

We also find that Jive calpas, or periods of twelve millions of years, consti- 
tute among the Hindus the period of creation; or sixty millions of years. 
By the same system, we observe the people of Thibet, the Greeks, &c, di- 
vided their period of creation, into Jive ages. {Humboldt, Res. ii 31, 215.) 
We may also enumerate the Jive elements of the Hindoos, Chinese, Japanese, 
&c; perhaps Brahma's^ue heads have some reference to this principle of di- 
viding by fifths, and his loss of one of them, may be solved by a knowledge 
of these facts. , 



f Our common translation, in rendering the Hebrew Q7^, always, is not 
correct. The word generally means an indefinite, but not an infinite period 
of time. It is very commonly used to signify a dispensation, such as that of the 
Jews, which was not to last for ever. So with the Greek cuwva, by which it 
is translated in the Septuagint Montanus and Tremellius, both render the 
Hebrew word by saculum, which never means an infinite time. Thomp- 
son in his translation of the Bible, expresses it, by "my breath (or spirit) 
must not continue in these men to this age," &c, which I apprehend, conveys 
the idea of the Bible more correctly. I would translate the Hebrew word 
in this passage, by period or cycle; the commencement of which, I presume, 
the Antediluvians were celebrating, at the time the denunciation of God 
was made against them. 




OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



221 



was attended with the greatest manifestations of joy and 
mirth; and as is recorded of the ancient Persians, they ex- 
ultingly said, "this is the new day, of a new month, of a 
new year, of a new cycle, upon which every thing that de- 
pends on time should be renewed." (Hyde, Hist. Rel. 
Vet. Pers. 231.) If we can admit the not improbable 
supposition, that the antediluvians were celebrating in the 
manner and expression of the Persians, the commencement 
of a cycle of 600 or of 120 years, when Noah or some 
other prophet informed them of the coming destruction, we 
perceive how apposite the expression becomes; whereas 
without this explanation, it stands rather embarrassed by the 
precise, though unintelligible period of time allowed them.* 
But to return to the cycle of 600 years: If we are correct 
in the exhibition we have given of it, both as respects its 
division into five parts, or cycles of 120 years as retained 
by the Persians, and also that they intercalated but 29 days 
to every period of 120 years, it will follow, that the length 
of the tropical year was perfectly known before the deluge: 
for 600 vague years, amount to 219,000 days; and the inter- 
calation of 29 days every 120 years, adds 145 more, which 
will thus make the year 365 days, 5 hours, 48 seconds, or 
but 4S seconds less than the length of the year according 
to the latest observation of our own times: an error of but 
eight hours, for the whole period of 600 years. Of this 
circumstance they were probably aware, and provided for it 
in their greater cycles of 6,000, 30,000, or 36,000 years. 
And we further think, that we can now see for what pur- 
pose these immense cycles of years were composed; namely, 

*Hyde relates from an Arabic author, (Ibn Mucfa,) the manner the an- 
cient Persians celebrated their Jfawuz; which though afterwards applied to 
every JVeio year's day, I think belonged originally, to the commencement of 
the Neros cycle only. It presents so curious an analogy to what we have 
conjectured on the antediluvian celebration, that I shall translate it for the 
benefit of English readers 

"It was the custom of the Persians on these occasions, that some person 
of beautiful countenance who was appointed for this purpose, came by night 
to the palace, where he remained until the next morning; and as soon as the 
day shone forth, he came into the presence of the king, without asking any 
permission. When he had thus familiarly introduced himself, the king de- 
manded of him, from whence are you? whither are you going? and what is 
your name? for what purpose have you come hither? and what do you bring? 
To which he replied, I am Al-Mansur, (the august,) and my name is Al-Mo- 
barek, (the blessed;) I have been sent hither from God, bringing the new 
year." After this followed some ceremonies of bringing in grain of va- 
rious kinds, eating, &c; when it was joyfully said, "this is the new day, of 
the new month, &c." 

If we could suppose the prophet of God, who announced the impending 
deluge, to have come before some great antediluvian monarch, at the time 
he was expecting Al-Mobarek; it would be admirably in point, and render 
the divine admonition emphatic in the highest degree. 
29 



222 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



that they answered the purposes of astronomical tables, 
upon which all the practical parts of their system of compu- 
tation were built, and which shewed in an ingenious man- 
ner, the extreme nicety to which such calculations might be 
brought. Thus fractions of lime almost insensible, by con- 
stantly accumulating, become at last marked periods, which 
they could provide for by intercalation. It was an after 
invention, to consider them as being real chronological com- 
putations.* 

We of course consider the astronomy of the Chaldeans, 
Persians, Hindus, Mexicans, &c, as systems built upon the 
principles of antediluvian science; which preserved by the 
family of Noah, became a common foundation to all future 
cyclic computations. These principles have been partially 
modified among these different people, from superstitious 
ideas, probably arising from conceits of the powers of par- 
ticular numbers: but which it is evident, bear the same 
ratio to one another in their combinations, as distinguish 
those, whose antiquity lead us to suppose them, the original 
constituents of the astronomical cycles of the antediluvian 
world. 

Before we conclude this chapter on Mexican astronomy, 
we have one circumstance to consider respecting the reli- 
gious calendar, which we could not previously discuss. 

It will be remembered, that the periods of thirteen days, 
by which this calendar was computed, were formed into 
cycles of 260 days, as we have observed page 206, and that 
seventy -three cycles of 260 days, constitute the great cycle 
of 52 years. Our object in thus recapitulating matters al- 
ready stated, is to call the attention to the apparent use of 

* We have some very plausible data to affirm this supposition in the case 
of the Hindu Yugs, the most notorious instance perhaps of an exaggerated 
chronology in national history. For Megasthenes (As #es. x. 118,) "a man 
of no ordinary abilities, who had spent the greatest part of his life in India 
in a public character, and was well acquainted with the chronological sys- 
tems of the Egyptians Chaldeans, and Jews; made particular inquiries into 
their history, and declares according to Clemens of Alexandria, that the 
Hindus and the Jews, were the only people who had a true idea of the crea- 
tion of the world, and the beginning of things; and we learn from him, 
that the history of the Hindus did not go back above 5042 years from th© 
invasion of India by Alexander. Manuscripts differ in this date, some stat- 
ing it 5042, or 6042, others 5402." The true reading should probably be 
5178, according to Major Wilford- 

Megasthenes lived about -^90 B. C. But the Hindu system of the Yugs 
had been as an astronomical theory, established at least a thousand years 
before that time: for Sir Wiiliam Jones informs us, (Sir Wm. Jones' 1 works, 
vii. 80,) that the Vedas which contain the earliest account we have of the 
Yugas,'were composed 1580 years, B. C. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



223 



the number seventy -three.* Can it be of fortuitous use, or 
has it a reference to the precession of the equinoxes, which 
is about 1° in 72 years? The evident use the Hindus have 
made of this number, induces us to think, that it must have 
some connexion with that knowledge, though now seemingly 
unknown to them.t But that the cyle of 73 years, is in- 
tended to be understood as an entire period among the 
Mexicans, is most probable, from finding it is not divided 
into any parts, but embraces the whole cycle of 52 years. 
Time, industry, and opportunity, may bring all these things 
to light; and I sincerely trust, we shall realize the observa- 
tion of Humboldt, that "all we have hitherto learnt respect- 
ing the ancient state of the natives of the new continent, is 
nothing in comparison with the light that will be one day 
thrown on this subject, if we succeed in bringing together, 
the materials now scattered over both worlds, that have 
survived the ages of ignorance and barbarism." 

To this account of the Mexican astronomy, we shall add 
a description of the astronomical religious festival, whieh they 
celebrated at the end of every cycle of 52 years; and which 
is generally termed the secular festival. 

We must premise, that the Mexicans believed our world 
was periodically subjected to certain great physical convul- 
sions, that destroyed the human race with the exception of 
some two or three individuals, from whom would proceed 
again another race of mortals like themselves. It was also a 
part of their belief, that these periodical calamities always 
happened at the close of one of their cycles of 52 years; and 
as it was not known, when they might expect the recurrence 
of these awful calamities, that had four times previously des- 
troyed mankind, they saw every cycle of 52 years draw to 
its conclusion with apprehension and alarm. It was at this 
most anxious time, that the ceremonies of the secular festi- 
val commenced. On the last night of the cycle, [Clavig. 
Hist. Mex. ii. 92,) they extinguished the fires of all the tem- 
ples and houses, broke their vessels, earthen pots, and kitch- 
en utensils, preparing themselves in this manner for the end- 
ing of the world. The priests, clothed in various dresses 
and insignia of the gods, accompanied by a vast crowd of peo- 
ple, issued from the temple, and quitting the city directed 

* The Mexican year also contained 73 periods of five days, which we have 
already stated was the small divisions of the months. 

f There are frequent allusions to the number 72 or 73, among various ancient 
nations, either in their chronology or mythology Thus the Persians said 
there had been 72 Solymans. (Bailly, Letter to Voltaire, ii. 109.) The Greeks 
also said that Mercury had won in play from the moon the 7 2d part of 
each day of the year, for the accouchement of Rhea, &c. 



224 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



their march to a mountain about six miles distant. They re- 
gulated their journey so that they might arrive at the moun- 
tain a little before midnight, upon whose top a fire was to 
be kindled, in case the time of their destruction had not com- 
pleted its terrible cycle, which would be determined at that 
moment of time. While the Mexican people were in this 
state of fearful suspense, the priests sacrificed a human victim 
on the top of the mountain, and upon his breast they rubbed 
two sticks together, until a fire was kindled which they in- 
creased to a great size, that all the country around might per- 
ceive the guarantee of the world's continuance, at least for 
another cycle of 52 years. 

From this sacred fire, portions were carried to all the houses 
and temples adjacent, for the renewal of their rites, or do- 
mestic uses. 

The ensuing thirteen days, were employed in replacing the 
furniture, dresses, &c, which they had previously destroyed, 
and in rejoicing at the prospect of longer life. At this time, 
every thing that could amuse or gratify, was put under re- 
quisition. Games, dances, and feats of activity, were every 
where practised or exhibited. One game, as it is called by 
the Spanish writers, was exhibited at this time alone; and as 
a part of the secular festival, we shall describe it under its 
appellation of game of the flyers. Having procured a tree of 
suitable size, they erected it in one of the public squares of 
the city: On its head or top, was adjusted a hollow wooden 
cap, sufficiently loose to turn around on the head of the mast 
or tree. To the cap, they attached a square wooden frame, 
by four ropes of a few feet in length. Through holes in this 
frame, passed four ropes, which were twisted thirteen times 
round the head of the tree, and to the loose ends of the ropes, 
four persons, disguised like eagles, herons, &c. attached 
themselves. Then springing off simultaneously, the ropes 
began to untwist from the tree, and the hollow cap to turn 
round. The great end of this contrivance was, that the per- 
sons disguised as eagles, herons, &c. should thirteen times 
fly round the mast before they reached the ground; and the 
game thus became emblematical of their cycle of 52 years; 
as 4X13=52. 

It is not improbable, from Dennon's travels in Egypt, (Jit- 
lax, piate Ixiii.) that something analogous to this game, was 
in use among that ancient people, though we have no rela- 
tion to confirm this conjecture. 

It is unnecessary to adduce instances of the manner, in 
which the ancient nations of the eastern continent, celebrated 
the returns of their periodical cycles. Such epochs by very 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



225 



natural associations of ideas, would be attended with great 
festivals and rejoicings; a feeling which may indeed be mea- 
surably appreciated, by our own anniversary festivities on 
the recurrence of days interesting to us either as individuals, 
or as members of any political body. We may well suppose, 
that when religion and astronomy combined to render a day 
important after the revolution of many years, it would be 
hailed by great and extensive rejoicings, proportionate to its 
rare occurrence, or as expressed in the invitation to the secu- 
lar games of the Romans, men were called to attend a cele- 
bration, "that they had never seen before, nor would ever 
see again." 

It is most probable, that the Mexicans had arranged the 
starry heavens into constellations; the description of which 
would be of the utmost importance to us, in investigating the 
origin of that people. But I am afraid, this part of their as- 
tronomical system has been irretrievably lost. 

Humboldt, (Res. i. 180, 207,) however, seemingly men- 
tions manuscripts that describe or enumerate their constel- 
lations. From this observation, we can cherish a hope, 
they may yet be decyphered, and make us acquainted with 
this part of their antiquities; which will no doubt, throw much 
light upon their ancient history. 

The Mexicans do not appear to have been acquainted with 
astronomical instruments of any kind, unless Gama's suppo- 
sition be correct, that they used the linear gnomon. (Hum- 
boldt, Res. ii. 135.) 

On the Religion of the Mexicans, fyc. 

Of all researches, that most effectually aid us to discover 
the origin of a nation or people, whose history is either un- 
known, or deeply involved in the obscurity of ancient times; 
none perhaps are attended with such important results, as the 
analysis of their theological dogmas, and their religious prac- 
tices. To such matters mankind adhere with the greatest 
tenacity, and which though both modified and corrupted in 
the revolutions of ages, still preserve features of their original 
construction, when language, arts, sciences, and political estab- 
lishments, no longer preserve distinct lineaments of their an- 
cient constitutions. 

This assertion none will deny, who have examined the 
mythologies of the ancient nations of Asia or Africa, or even 
that one, which classic Greece in a most confused system, has 
made familiar to all men of liberal education. 



226 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



Within the period of a half century, the literati of Britain 
and Hindostan, in an astonishing manner, have removed the 
vail that concealed the mysteries of ancient paganism, and 
have exposed to our eyes those physical allegories and his- 
toric allusions, that constituted in great part, the original ba- 
sis of the system. A thousand generations of men have 
passed away, foreign war and civil commotion have destroy- 
ed every ancient kingdom, and yet in despite of all these re- 
volutions of time and empire, and notwithslanding that strong 
spirit of allegorizing, more fatal to system than the two former 
combined; yet India still adheres to that paganism, which 
subverting the purity of the patriarchal worship, raised upon 
its ruins a monstrous system of perverted history and alle- 
gorical physics. By the practices of these living idolaters 
of Hindostan, we have not only been enabled to identify 
them with the idolaters of Phoenicia, Egypt, and Chaldea, 
but from them, we have received the key, that opens and de- 
velops the system common to all. 

As we consider it a matter fully determined, that the my- 
thology of Egypt, Chaldea, Hindostan, &c, have all been 
based upon a system, which there can be but little doubt, 
was once common to all postdiluvian nations; we hold, that 
a most rigid test is thereby furnished, to judge of the anti- 
quity of the demi-civilized nations of America; whose my- 
thological figments and superstitions, can be brought into 
close comparison with those of the nations of antiquity, and 
according to the closeness of their analogy, we can with 
some plausibility, estimate the length of time, they have been 
separated from each other, and we particularly request the 
reader curious concerning the origin of the American nations, 
to bear these circumstances of comparison continually in 
mind during our present investigation. 

Our information concerning the belief of the nations of 
Anahuac respecting 3 future state, is but meagre. This beis<g 
one of those subjects, which the conquerors of Mexico thought 
unworthy their examination, and consequently, we are only 
able to give an imperfect account of this part of their theology. 

The more civilized nations, considered the souls both of 
men and beasts to be immortal, as may be distinctly inferred 
from the ceremonies used at their funerals. 

According to Clavigero, {Hist. Mex. ii. 3,) the Mexicans 
distinguished three places, as being allotted for the reception 
of departed spirits. The souls of soldiers who died in battle, 
or in captivity among enemies, and those of women who had 
died in labour, went to the house of the Sun, where they led 
a life of endless delight. There every day at sun rising, 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



227 



they hailed that luminary with rejoicings, music and dancing 
and attended him to his meridian height, where they met 
with the souls of women, and with similar festivities accom- 
panied the sun to its setting. 

After living for four years in this manner, their spirits were 
supposed to animate clouds, birds of beautiful plumage, and 
of sweet song, but who always had the power to rise again to 
heaven whenever they pleased. As their aristocracy prevailed 
even in heaven, this was the condition of the great and noble. 
Inferior persons, animated weazles, beetles, and such other 
animals. 

The souls of those that were drowned, or struck with light- 
ning, of those who had died by dropsy, tumors, casualties, 
and all other diseases, went along with the souls of children 
who had been sacrificed or drowned in honor of Tlaloc, god 
of water, to a cool and delightful place called Tlalocan, where 
that god resided, and where they enjoyed delicious repasts, 
and every other kind of pleasure. 

The third place for the dead, was called Mictlan, or hell, 
which they considered was a place of utter darkness; in which 
a god and goddess reigned. They did not suppose that the 
souls underwent any other punishment there, than what they 
suffered from the darkness of their abode. Siguenza consid- 
ered the hell of the Mexicans, to have been situated in the 
northern parts of the earth. Clavigero thinks they placed it 
in the centre of the globe. 

There is nothing in this system that particularly requires 
our consideration, except to observe, that transmigration of 
soul was a doctrine distinctly recognized by them: a supersti- 
tion that has prevailed among the Egyptians, Hindus, Per- 
sians, Celts, &c, and which perhaps, owes its origin to some 
perverted ideas of man's probationary state in this life, which 
they have mingled with phenomena of the natural world, 
sufficiently evident to every moral observer. 

The Mexicans, (Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 2,) had some cor- 
rect ideas of a supreme, absolute, and independent being; 
whom they regarded with fear and adoration. They repre- 
sented him by no external form, because they believed him 
to be invisible; and spoke of him only by the name Teotl, 
or God. They applied to him epithets expressive of the 
greatness and power which they conceived him to possess; 
such as, Ipalnemoani; he by whom we live, and Tloque 
Nahuaque; he who has all in himself. But their know- 
ledge and worship of this supreme being, was obscured and 
in a manner lost in the multitude of deities invented by 
their superstition. 



228 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



They believed in an evil spirit, inimical to mankind, whom 
they called, Tlacatecolototl, or rational owl; and said, 
that he often appeared to men, for the purpose of terrifying 
or doing them some injury. 

There seems to be a great deficiency in the Mexican his- 
torians, concerning the history of the evil principle, an im- 
portant part of their religious system, which it is impossible 
for us to supply. 

Among the many deities worshipped by the Mexicans, were 
thirteen principal gods, in honor of. whom they are said to 
have consecrated that number, but which I trust, we have 
rather shewn, to have had an astronomical signification and 
use. We shall endeavour to give a concise, yet accurate 
description of these deities, from the writings of Clavigero, 
and other Mexican historians. 

Tezatlipoca, was the principal deity worshipped in Mex- 
ico after the supreme god teotl, whom we have already 
mentioned. His name means Shining Mirror, .from one 
that was affixed to his image. He was the god of provi- 
dence, the soul of the world, the creator of heaven and earth, 
and master of all things. His image was that of a young 
man; to denote, that his power was not diminished by the 
course of time. It was believed, that he regarded the good 
or evil actions of men, and punished or rewarded them by a 
special providence. Stone seats were placed at the corners 
of the streets for him to rest upon when he thought proper, 
and upon which no Indian was ever permitted to sit. His 
image, made of teotl, (divine stone) a black and shining 
stone, was richly dressed. In his ears, were golden rings; 
and from the under lip, hung a crystal tube, within which 
was a green feather, or a turquoise stone. His hair was tied 
with a golden string, from the end of which hung a repre- 
sentation of the human ear, made of gold, upon which was 
painted an ascending smoke; by which design they denoted 
the prayers of the distressed. He had bracelets of gold upon 
his arms; and in his left hand, a golden fan, adorned with 
beautiful feathers. This fan was highly polished; and in it, 
as a mirror, they believed he saw every thing that hap- 
pened in the world. At other times, to denote his justice, 
they represented him sitting on a bench covered with red 
cloth, upon which were drawn the figures of skulls and other 
bones. A shield with four arrows was borne on the left 
arm, and the right was lifted up in the attitude of throwing 
a spear. 

Ometeuctli and omecihuatl, the first was a god, and 
the last a goddess, whom they believed dwelt in a magnificent 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



229 



city in the heavens, abounding with delights. There they 
watched over the world, and gave to mortals their wishes, 
the former to men and the latter to women. They had a tra- 
dition, that the goddess, after having had many children in 
heaven, at one time brought forth a knife of flint; which her 
children in a rage threw to the earth; from which sprang 
1600 heroes! These, knowing their high origin, and haying 
no servants, (for all mankind had perished by a general ca- 
lamity) sent an embassy to their mother, to entreat her to 
grant them power to create men to serve them. The mother 
answered, that if they had had more exalted sentiments, the)r 
would have made themselves worthy to live with her eter- 
nally in heaven, but since they chose to abide upon the earth, 
she told them to go to Mictlanteuctli, god of hell, and ask 
of him one of the bones of those men who had last perished, 
which they were to sprinkle with their blood, and from it 
they would have a man and a woman, who would multiply 
the species, Xolotl, one of the heroes, went to hell, and 
got the bone; but from fear that Mictlanteuctli would repent 
giving it, (which he actually did,) made such precipitate 
haste, that he fell, and broke the bone into two unequal parts, 
which accounts for the difference in stature among men.* 
However, he retained the two pieces, and returned with them 
to his brothers, who put them in a vessel, and sprinkled them 
with blood, drawn from different parts of their bodies. On 
the fourth day, they beheld a boy; and continuing to sprinkle 
with blood for three days more, a girl was made. These 
were both consigned to the care of Xolotl, to be brought up, 
who fed them with the milk of thistles. From this cere- 
mony, they say, originated the practice of drawing blood 
from the different parts of the body; an act of devotion 
which constituted an essential part of the Mexican ritual. 

These 'divinities appear to have presided in an especial 
manner over all new born children. ( Clavig. Hist. Mex. 
ii. 95, 96.) 

Cihuacohuatl, [woman serpent,) called also qutlaztli, 
or tonacacihua, {woman of our flesh,) was considered by 
the Mexicans as the mother of the human race. {Clavig. 
Hist. Mex. ii. 8. Humboldt, Res. i. 195.) She is reported 
to have always borne twins. As we cannot pretend to give 
any original information concerning this goddess, we beg 
leave to introduce the following extract from Humboldt as 
above quoted. "The Mexicans considered her as the mo- 
ther of the human race; and after the god of the celestial 

* So translated, but I rather think it should be, for the difference of stature 
between men and women. 
30 



230 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



paradise, Ometeuctli, she held the first rank among the di- 
vinities of Anahuac; we see her always represented with a 
great serpent, which some of their paintings exhibit to us as 
a feather-headed snake cut in pieces by the great spirit 
Tezcatlipoca, or by the god Tonatiuh, a personification of the 
sun. These allegories remind us of the ancient traditions of 
Asia. In the woman and serpent of the Mexicans, we 
think we perceive the Eve of the Semetic nations; in the 
snake cut in pieces, the famous serpent Kaliya or Kalinaga 
conquered by Vishnu, when he took the form of Crishna. 
The Tonatiuh of the Mexicans, appears also to be identical 
with the Crishna of the Hindoos, recorded in the Bhagavata 
Purana, and with the Mithras of the Persians. The most 
ancient traditions of nations, go back to a state of things 
when the earth covered with bogs, was inhabited by snakes, 
and other animals of gigantic bulk. The beneficent lumi- 
nary, by drying up the soil, delivered the earth from these 
aquatic monsters." 

In describing a Mexican painting, Humboldt also observes 
in another page, {Res. i. 195.) "Behind the serpent who 
appears to be speaking to the goddess Cihuacohuatl, are two 
naked figures; they are of a different colour, and seem to be 
in the attitude of contending with each other. We might 
be led to suppose, that the two vases which we see at the 
bottom of the picture, one of which is overturned, is the 
cause of this contention. The serpent woman was consi- 
dered at Mexico, as the mother of two twin children, and 
these naked figures are perhaps her children; they remind 
us of the Cain and Abel of Hebrew tradition 1 ." 

As I cannot conceive of any time when serpents were so 
multiplied upon the earth, as to make a deliverance from 
them an epoch in mythological history, it is not easy to be- 
lieve that the Mexicans understood any such physical allu- 
sion as is hinted by Humboldt. I believe the connexion is 
with that moral serpent, whose history we so well know be- 
longs to that of our first parents.* 

The goddess Cihuacohuatl, had a male companion called 
tonacateuctli, lord of our flesh, but of whom we have 
no particulars to relate. 

Tonatricli and meztli, were the names of the sun and 
moon, both deified by the Mexicans, and other nations of 
Anahuac. They said, that after the regeneration and multi- 
plication of the human race, by the 1600 heroes, there was 

* The first woman, is by the Chinese also denominated shay necj, or ser- 
pen* woman. [Morrison's Chinese Diet. i. 60.) No reason for this appellation 

is assigned by the editor. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



231 



no sun; for the one that formerly existed, was destroyed by 
the calamity we have just noticed, in which mankind per- 
ished. The heroes, therefore, assembled in Teotihuacan, 
around a great fire; and said to the men, that the first of 
them who would throw himself into the flames would have 
the glory to be transformed into a sun. One of the men, 
called Nanahuatzin, more intrepid than the rest, threw him- 
self into the flames, and descended to hell. During the time 
of his absence the heroes were betting, as to what moment, 
and in what part of the heavens, the sun would first appear: 
these bets, as soon as lost, were sacrificed; and consisted of 
quails, locusts, &c. 

At length the sun rose in that quarter, which, from that 
time, has been called the Levant, (or place of Rising — the 
East.) But he had scarcely risen above the horizon, before 
he stopped; which the heroes perceiving, sent to him to de- 
sire he would continue his course. The sun replied, he 
would not until he should see them all put to death. The 
heroes were no less enraged than terrified by that answer; 
and one of them taking his bow and three arrows, shot one 
at the sun; but the sun saved himself by stooping. After 
several arrows had been discharged without effect, the sun 
enraged, turned back one of those shot at him, and fixed it 
in the forehead of that hero who had first drawn his bow 
against him, and who instantly expired. 

The rest, intimidated by the fate of their brother, and un- 
able to cope with the sun, resolved to die by the hands of 
Xolotl; who, after killing his brothers, put an end to his own 
life. The heroes, before they died, left their clothes to their 
servants: and since the conquest by the Spaniards, certain 
ancient garments have been found, which were preserved by 
the Mexicans with extraordinary veneration, under a belief 
that they had them from those ancient heroes.* 

They told a similar fable of the origin of the moon. 
Another person at the same assemblage, following the ex- 
ample of Nanahuatzin, threw himself into the fire; but the 
flames being somewhat less fierce, he turned out less bright, 
and was transformed into the moon. 

To these two deities they consecrated the two celebrated 
temples of the plain of Teotihuacan, which we shall describe 
hereafter, but which it is supposed were erected by nations 
anterior to the Mexicans. 

* The Japanese according to Ka)mpher, (Hist. Japan, i. 207,) still preserve 
in some of their temples; swords, arms, and other warlike instruments, 
which they consider to have belonged to a semi-divine race, that possessed 
their islands before the present race of men, 



232 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



Quetzalcoatl, (feathered serpent,) was among the 
Mexicans, and all other nations of Anahuac, the god of the 
air. He was said once to have been high priest of Tula* 
They figured him tall, big, of a fair complexion, open fore- 
head, large eyes, long black hair, and a thick beard. From 
a love of decency, he wore always a long robe, which is re- 
presented to have been spotted all over with red crosses, 
(Herrera, ii. 317.) He was so rich that he had palaces of 
gold, silver, and precious stones. He was thought to possess 
the greatest industry, and to have invented the art of melting 
metals and cutting gems. He was supposed to have had the 
most profound wisdom; which he displayed in the laws he 
left to mankind, and above all, the most rigid and exemplary 
manners. Whenever he intended promulgating a law to his 
kingdom, he ordered a crier to the top of the mountain Tza- 
tzitepec, (hill of shouting,) near the city of Tula, from whence 
his voice was heard for three hundred miles. In his time 
the corn grew so strong, that a single ear was a load for a 
man; gourds were as long as a man's body; it was unneces- 
sary to dye cotton, for it grew naturally of all colours; all their 
fruits were in the same abundance, and of an extraordinary 
size; then also, there was an incredible number of beautiful 
and sweet singing birds. In a word, the Mexicans imagined 
as much happiness under the priesthood of Quetzalcoatl, as 
the Greeks did under the reign of Saturn, whom this Mexi- 
can god also resembled by the exile he suffered. Amidst all 
this prosperity, Tezcatlipoca, their supreme but visible god, 
(we know not for what reason,) wishing to drive him from 
that country, appeared to him in the form of an old man, and 
told him it was the will of the gods that he should be taken 
to the kingdom of Tlapalla. At the same time he offered 
him a beverage, which was readily accepted, in hopes of ob- 
taining that immortality after which he aspired: he no soon- 
er drank it, than he felt himself so strongly inclined to go to 
Tlapalla, that he set out immediately, accompanied by many 
of his subjects. Near the city of Quauhtitlan, he felled a 
tree, with stones, which remained fixed in the trunk; and 
near Tlalnepantla, he laid his hand upon a stone, and left an 
impression, which the Mexicans showed to the. Spaniards.! 
Upon his arrival at Cholula, the citizens detained him, and 
made him take the government of their city. He showed 

* Tula, was the country of the Toltecks before they emigrated to Anahuac; 
we presume therefore, that the Mexicans derived their knowledge of this 
* deity from that ancient people. 

| This reminds us of the impressions of the feet of Budha, Hercules, and 
others in various parts of Asia; and of those observed in various parts of 
North America, See page 110. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



233 



much aversion to cruelty, and could not bear the mention of 
war. To him, the Cholulans say, they owe their knowledge 
of melting metals, the laws by which they were afterwards 
governed, the rites and ceremonies of their religion, and as 
some say, the arrangement of their seasons and calendar. Af- 
ter, being twenty years in Cholula, he resolved to pursue his 
journey to his imaginary kingdom of Tlapalla; carrying along 
with him four noble and virtuous youths: but on arriving at 
the maritime province of Coatzacoalco, he dismissed them, 
and desired them to assure the Cholulans, that he would re- 
turn to comfort and direct them. Some said that he sudden- 
ly disappeared, others that he died on the sea shore. But 
however that may be, Quetzalcoatl was consecrated as a god 
by the Toltecas of Cholula, and made chief guardian of their 
city, in the centre of which, in honour of him, they raised a 
great eminence on which was built a temple. Another emi- 
nence surmounted by a temple, was afterwards erected to 
him in Tula. From Cholula, his worship was spread over 
the country, where he was adored as the god of the air. 
He had temples in Mexico and elsewhere; and some nations 
even enemies of the Cholulans, had temples and priests dedi- 
cated to his worship in the city of Cholula, whither persons 
came from all parts of the land to pay their devotions, and 
fulfil their vows. 

His festivals were great and extraordinary, especially in 
Cholula/ In the divine years,* they were preceded by a 
rigid fast of eighty days, and by dreadful austerities practised 
by the priests consecrated to his worship. The Mexicans 
said that Quetzalcoatl cleared the way for the god of water; 
because in these countries, rain is generally preceded by wind. 
(Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 11.) 

Acosta says the idolatrous image of this god, bore "a scythe 
in his hand," {Nat. and Mor. Hist. lib. 5, chap. 9,) which 
is also remarked by Humboldt (Res. ii. 22,) in his observa- 
tions on the five ages of the Mexicans. See also his plate of 
these Mexican cosmogonal fictions. 

The preceding description, which we have extracted from 
Clavigero, is confirmed in its details by Humboldt; both of 
whom direct our attention to incidents in the history of Quet- 
zalcoatl, analogous to those of Saturn. But Saturn is indu- 
bitably a personification of the patriarch Noah, as may be 
seen in the writings of Bochart, Bryant, Faber, &c. In like 
manner, the history of Quetzalcoatl, evidently refers to par- 
ticulars that characterize the legendary history of the great 

* Divine years, were every fourth year, and were those that bore the sign 
of the rabbit, see page 206. 



234 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



postdiluvian father among all the ancient nations of the easier 
continent. This will be made more apparent by the ensuin 
statements, which seem to have been overlooked by Clav 
gero, Humboldt, and others, owing to some confusion of tl 
early Spanish writers on Mexican antiquities. 

Humboldt (Researches, i. 95,) says, that a very remar 
able tradition still exists among the Indians of Cholula, th 
the great pyramidal temple of that town, which we have d> 
scribed as being erected to the worship of Quetzalcoatl, was 
not destined originally for that service. This tradition, which 
has been recorded by a Dominican monk, who visited Ch 
lula A. D. 1566, is thus related from his work by Humbold 
"Before the great inundation, which took place four thoi 
sand eight hundred years after the creation of the world, the 
country of Anahuac was inhabited by giants; all of whc 
either perished in the inundation, or were transformed in 
fishes, save seven, who fled into caverns. When the wate 
subsided, one of the giants called Xelhua, surnamed the arch 
tect, went to Cholula, where as a memorial of the mounta 
Tlaloc, which had served for an asylum to himself and his si: 
brethren, he built an artificial hill in form of a pyramid. He 
ordered bricks to be made in the province of Tlamanalco, 
the foot of the Sierra of Cocotl; and to convey them to Che 
hula, he placed a file of men who passed them from hand t 
hand. The gods beheld with wrath this edifice, the top c 
which was to reach the clouds. Irritated at the daring ai 
tempt of Xelhua, they hurled fire on the pyramid. Numbe 
of the workmen perished; the work was discontinued, ai 
the monument was afterwards dedicated to Quetzalcoatl th 
god of the air." From this tradition, which applies the hi 
tory of the catastrophe at Babel, to the pyramidal temple 
Cholula, we learn, that though the more general tradition 
the Cholulans, was, that their temple had been erected 
Quetzalcoatl, (Clavigero, Hist. Mex. ii. 12, 13, 37; Nicosia 
Nat. and Mor. Hist. lib. 5 chap. 9;) yet another tradition 
according to Rios and Humboldt, stated, that it was not origi 
nally intended for the worship of that divinity. I thini 
however, there is but a nominal discrepancy between the tw < 
relations. What the Cholulans told Rios and Humbolc! 
means nothing more, than that the temple was built to coi 
memorate the escape of certain individuals from the delug 
and was not originally dedicated to the god of the air, whicl 
though an attribute of Quetzalcoatl, is very evidently a minoi 
if not insignificant feature in his character, compared to thos< 
which constitute his resemblance to the patriarch Noah. 

Thus I apprehend, the two traditions may not only b 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



235 



ade consistent with each other in their prominent features, 
L that the one supplies matter, more abundantly confirming 
our general apprehension, of this deity having been a mytho- 
logical personification of the great diluvian patriarch. 

We may also state in further confirmation of these views, 
that it was the most ancient practice of the ancient pagans of 
- sia, to erect similar montiform temples, which it can now 
be scarely doubted, were commemorative of mount Ararat, 
id the regeneration of the human race. But of this subject 
e shall take more detailed views, when we treat of the 
fexican temples. 

We have not yet done, however, with the resemblances 
that connect Quetzalcoatl with the history of Noah; for we 
shall find a pretty clear evidence of their identity, in a part 
his Mexican worship, which seems not obscurely to re- 

esent those rites commemorative of the events of the de- 

ge, which have been also observed among all the more 

ebrated nations of antiquity. 

The following narration is to be found in Acosta. {Nat. 
id Mor. Hist. lib. 5th chap. 30.) "There was at this 
nple of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula, a court of reasonable 
greatness, in the which they made great dances and pas- 
times, with games and comedies, on the festival days of this 
idol; for which purpose there was in the midst of this court, 
• theatre of thirty foot square, very finely decked and 
named, the which they decked with flowers that day, 
th all the art and invention that might be; being environed 
ind with arches of divers flowers and feathers, and in 
} ne places, there were tied many small birds, conies, and 
er tame beasts. After dinner, all the people assembled 
this place, and the players presented themselves, and 
yed comedies; some counterfeited the deaf and rheuma- 
2, others the lame, some the blind and crippled, which 
ne to seek for cure from the idol. The deaf answered 
3 ifusedly, the rheumatic coughed, the lame halted, telling 
ir miseries and griefs; wherewith they made the people to 
gh; others came forth in the form of little beasts, some 
tired like snails, others like toads, and some like li- 
wds; then meeting together, they told their offices, and 
^ery one retiring to his place they sounded on small 
tes which was pleasant to hear. They likewise counter- 
ted butterflies, and small birds of divers colours, which 
were represented by the children who were sent to the tem- 
ple for education: then they went into a little forest, planted 
there for the purpose, where the priests of the temple drew 
m forth with instruments of music. In the mean time, 



236 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



they used many pleasant speeches, some in propounding, 
others in defending, wherewith the assistants were pleasantly 
entertained. This done, they made a mask or mumery 
with all these personages, and so the feast ended." 

It is impossible not to discern in this ceremony, a com- 
memoration of the ark; in which, men, beasts, birds, and 
reptiles, were collected together, under the auspices of 
Quetzalcoatl; whom we have attempted to prove was a per- 
sonification of Noah.* We also see another feature of the 
old arkite rites, in their going out of the temple represent- 
ing the cavity of the ark, with music and other marks of 
rejoicing, into a wood planted for the purpose; and w T hich 
no doubt in these mysteries, represented the resettlement of 
the earth. Though' we do not pretend to say, that these an- 
cient events of the history of mankind, were not materially 
confused, and these scenic representations misunderstood 
among the people of Anahuac, still we cannot help suggest- 
ing, that the unfortunate analogy which the Spaniards per- 
ceived in these mysteries, to their own dramatic performan- 
ces, has made them overlook the religious object of the cele- 
bration, and occasioned the neglect of other parts of these 
arkite rites, that would have even characterized them be- 
yond all dispute. To any one, however, conversant with the 
mythological systems of Egypt, Persia, or Hindostan, the 
intention is abundantly evident. But as it would be foreign 
to our disquisitions, to enter upon such details, we must only 
refer to writers upon this subject;! and proceed to describe 
other deities of the land of Anahuac. 

It may not be amiss to add, that there is no improbability 
in supposing some high priest of the god Quetzalcoatl, and 
who indeed had the practice of assuming his name, (Clavig. 
ii. 49,) may have had from lapse of time, some events of his 
history blended with the traditional history of the god. All 
that we contend for, is the origin of his mythological his- 
tory, and not to explain it in every particular of narration. 

Tlaloc or tlalocatetjctli, {Master of Paradise,) 
was the god of water. The Mexicans and others, called 
him, fertiliser of the earth and protector of their temporal 
goods. They believed he resided upon the highest moun- 
tains, where the clouds are generally formed. His image 
was painted blue and green, to express the different colours 

* It will be remarked on recurring to our history of this divinity at page 
232, that he is said to have been a deified man, a peculiarity in the Mexican 
theogony sufficiently remarkable. 

f Bryant, Jinalyisis of Jlnct. Mythology, Faber, Origin of Pagan Idolatry, 
are the two works most deserving examination. 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



237 



observed in water; and he held in his hand a rod of gold, 
of an undulated and pointed form to denote lightning. . 

Tlaloc, was one of the divinities worshipped by the Tol- 
tecas, and it is said, that an image of him was destroyed by 
the Spaniards, which had been seated on Mount Tlaloc by 
that ancient people. 

He had a female companion, who was worshipped under 
the name of Chalchiuhcueje, as the goddess of water. She 
was also known by various other names, derived from the 
appearance or effects of water, which we do not think ne- 
cessary to enumerate. 

Xiuhteuctlt, {master of the year and of the grass,) 
was among these nations the god of fire. He was greatly 
reverenced in the Mexican empire: at their dinners they 
made an offering to him of the first morsel of their food, 
and the first draught of their drink, by throwing them both 
into the fire. 

At the festival held in honour of this god in the last 
month of the Mexican year, the fires of the temples and 
private houses were extinguished, and again lighted from 
one kindled before this idol. 

It has been a very general custom with pagan nations, 
to perform a similar annual festival; at which time their 
priests collected a tribute for the new fire. The Persians, 
the Celts, and the Sclavonian nations, all followed the prac- 
tice, which to a certain degree has been continued to our 
time. {Coll. Reb. Hib. iv. 346. Tooke's Hist. Russia, i. 92.) 

The Peruvians, also had an analogous practice, as will be 
observed ij^our account of that people. 

Centeotl, (goddess vf the earth and corn,) called like- 
wise Tzinteotl, (original goddess,) Tonacajohua, (she 
who supports us,) and various other names, was particularly 
revered and honoured by the Totonacas, who esteemed her 
to be their chief protectress, and erected upon the top of a 
high mountain, a temple where she was served by a great 
number of priests, solely devoted to her worship. They 
held this goddess in great veneration, as they imagined she 
did not require human victims to be sacrificed to her, but 
was contented with doves, quails, &c. They expected she 
would ultimately deliver them from the cruel slavery they 
endured from the other gods, who required the sacrifice of 
so many human victims. At her temple among the Toto- 
nacas, was one of the most renowned oracles of the country. 

Baron Humboldt {Res, i. 221,) says, that Centeotl is the 
same with the Lakshmi of the Hindoos; but I can perceive 
no particular analogies that justify the comparison. 
31 



238 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



Mictlanteuctli, the god of hell, and Mictlantihuatl? 
his female companion, were supposed by the Mexicans to 
dwell in a place of great darkness, in the bowels of the 
earth. Sacrifices and offerings were made to them by night, 
and the chief minister of their worship, was always dressed 
in black to perform the functions of his priesthood. 

Huitzilipoctli or mexitli, was the god of war, the 
deity most honoured by the Mexicans, and was considered 
their chief protector. His origin is thus described: There 
lived in Coatepec, a place near the ancient city of Tula, a 
woman called Coatlicue, who was extremely devoted to the 
service of the gods. One day, according to her custom as 
she was walking in the temple, she beheld descending in the 
air, a ball made of various feathers. She seized it and 
placed it in her bosom, intending afterwards to decorate the 
altar with the feathers; but on searching for them after her 
walk, to her great surprise it was not to be found, and her 
wonder was much increased when she perceived from that 
moment she was pregnant. Her pregnancy was discovered 
by her children, who, though they did not suspect their 
mother's virtue, yet fearing the disgrace she would suffer in 
the opinion of the world, they determined to put her to 
death. She was in very great affliction at the thoughts of 
dying by the hands of her own children, when she heard a 
voice issue from her womb, saying, "be not afraid mother, 
I shall save you with the greatest honour to yourself and 
glory to me. 5 ' Her hard-hearted sons, guided and encou- 
raged by a sister, who had been most keenly bent upon the 
deed, were upon the point of executing their purpose, when 
Huitzilopoctli was born, with a shield in his left hand, a 
spear in his right, and a crest of green feathers on his head, 
the left leg adorned with feathers,* and his face, arms, and 
thighs, streaked with blue lines. As soon as he came into 
the world, he displayed a twisted club, and commanded one 
of his soldierst to kill his sister, as the one most guilty. 
He himself attacked the others with so much fury, that in 
spite of their efforts, arms, or intreaties, he killed them all, 
plundered their houses, and presented the spoils to his 
mother. Men were so terrified that they called him Tetza- 
huitl, t err our, and Tetzauhteotl, terrible god. This was 
the god, who, becoming the protector of the Mexicans, con- 
ducted them through their pilgrimage, and at length settled 
them on the place where Mexico was afterwards built. His 

* From this circumstance it is said, he derived his name. Hmtzilin signi- 
fies the humming bird, and opochtli, "the left," *. e. his left leg was adorned 
with feathers of the humming bird. 

■f We are not informed from whence these soldiers were derived. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



239 



statue was of a gigantic size, in the posture of a man sitting 
on a bench of a blue colour, from the corners of which is- 
sued four large snakes: his forehead was blue, and his face 
covered with a golden mask, as was also the back of his 
head by another: upon his head was placed a crest, shaped 
like the beak of a bird: around his neck a collar, consisting 
of ten figures of the human heart: in his right hand was a 
large blue twisted club; in his left a shield, on which five 
balls of feathers were arranged in the form of a cross; from 
the upper part of the shield rose a golden flag, with four ar- 
rows, which the Mexicans believed came from Heaven: his 
body was girt with a large golden snake, and adorned with 
many small figures of various animals, made of gold and 
precious stones. Each of these figures, Ciavigero says, had 
a particular meaning, but which he does not relate. To this 
deity were sacrificed more human victims than to any other 
god of Mexico. 

Huitzilopochtli had for a companion a younger brother, of 
whose generation no account is given. He was also a god 
of war, and was called tlacahuepanctjexcotzin. He also 
had a lieutenant, named painalton, swift or hurried. 

Huitzilopochtli had a wife named Teoyamiqui, who con- 
ducted the souls of warriors, who died in defence of their 
gods, to the house of the Sun, or the elysium of the Mexicans. 

In the descriptions that have been given us of Huitzilo- 
pochtli, there does not seem to be, at first sight, any particu- 
lars that appear to merit comparison with the history of any 
pagan divinity of the ancient world. His miraculous con- 
ception and birth is partially analogous to that of Fo-hi, 
a deity of the Chinese, whose mother was impregnated by 
a rainbow;* but there does not appear any other features 
of resemblance between the two. His attributes as god of 
war, are such as might be naturally ascribed to any warlike 
deity. 

But in a peculiar religious ceremony, that was celebrated 
to his honour by the Mexicans, it seems to me, that certain 
views are implied, that connect his history with some very 
ancient superstitions of the eastern continent, whose signifi- 
cation has never yet been explained. But as they are seem- 
ingly of the highest antiquity, and very widely adopted 
among the superstitions of different pagan nations, it is im- 
possible but that they imply some mysterious signification. 
Acosta says, (Nat. and Mor. Hist. lib. 5. chap. 24. Cla- 
vig. Hist. Mex. ii. 86,) that two days before the principal 

* Nana, the mother of the Phrygian god Attis, is also said to have been 
rendered pregnant of him, by putting in her bosom a pomegranate, which she 
had accidentally found. (Bryant, Jinal. Jlnct. Mythol. ii. 380.) 



240 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



festival of Huitzilopochtli, the sacred virgins, with grains 
of roasted maize, and seeds of beets, mixed together with 
honey, or the blood of children, made an idol of Huitzilo- 
pochtli, which they clothed with rich garments, and seated 
on a litter. On the morning of his festival, they carried 
this idol in procession around the city of Mexico, and then to 
the temple, where they had prepared a great quantity of the 
same paste or composition of seeds and blood, of which they 
had made the idol, and which they called the flesh and bones 
of Huitzilopochtli. After a certain consecration, the idol 
was sacrificed after the manner they sacrificed men; and his 
body was broken into small pieces, which together with 
those portions called his flesh and bones, were distributed 
among the people; who in the words of Acosta, "both men, 
women, and little children, received with such tears, fear, 
and reverence, as it was an admirable thing; saying they did 
eat the flesh and bones of God, wherewith they were griev- 
ed. Such as had any sick folks, demanded thereof for them, 
and carried it with great reverence and devotion." 

That this extraordinary ceremony was of ancient Mexican 
use, and no invention of the Spanish priests, is evident from 
the account given of it by Acosta; who calls it, "a commu- 
nion, which the devil himself, the prince of pride, ordained 
in Mexico to counterfeit the holy sacrament." 

The same origin has been ascribed by Justin Martyr, 
{Apol. Cap. xvi.) to a practice I consider analogous, though 
not so plainly described in the Mithraic mysteries. "Quod 
pravi dsemones imitati, etiam in Mithrae mysteriis fieri do- 
cuerunt. Scitis enim aut scire certe potestis in ejus qui 
initiatur sacris, partem et aquas poculum, cum certis quibus- 
dam verbis proponi." 

Tertullian {Be Prxscrip. Hscret. 247,) also ascribes to 
the devil, the resemblance that he imagined between the 
mysteries of Mithra and Christianity; whom he moreover 
charges with imitating baptism, marking the foreheads of the 
initiated, and among other things, "celebrat et pants obla- 
tionem et imaginem resurectionis inducit," &c. 

But the practice was much more widely extended than 
these fathers imagined; for the old Sabeans [Stanley' 's Hist. 
Philosophy, 799,) in their fifth month, "killed a new born 
infant to the honour of their gods, which they beat to pieces; 
then they take the flesh, and mix it with rye meal, saffron, 
ears of corn, mace, and little cakes like figs; they bake this 
composition in a new oven, and give it to the people of the 
congregation of Sammael all the year long." (I suppose ac- 
cording to their requirement.) "No woman or servant eats 
of it." 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 241 

The people of Nicaragua, (Herrera, iii. 301,) likewise 
used a consecrated bread, made of grains of maize and 
blood, drawn from their bodies; which they eat on certain 
religious occasions. Of this circumstance we shall again 
speak, in our chapter on Guatemala. 

The Peruvians, also, (Garcil, Roy Com. 258,) had a 
practice of similar import with the superstition of the Sa- 
beans, which we shall notice when treating of that people. 

The Druids, at certain seasons of the year, according to 
Du Paw, (Recherches sur les Americ. ii. 298,) consecrated 
bread and water, which after many ceremonies, "augustes 
et ennuyeuse" they distributed to the people. 

There is nothing in the history of Huitzilopochtli, that 
throws a direct light on this mysterious superstition; but I 
think we may not implausibly conjecture, that it was ori- 
ginally connected with those mythological stories, that re- 
present Osiris, Bacchus, Adonis or Thamuz, &c, to have 
been cut or torn to pieces, and their members scattered over 
the world; and it was, I presume, in commemoration of this 
event, that cakes of bread were used in the mysteries of an- 
tiquity; which were either moulded into the form of parts of 
the human body, or else were stamped with such figures. 

That something of this kind was practised, we learn from 
Clemens Alexandrinus, [Faber. Pag Idol. iii. 130,) who 
tells us, that the ark borne in the Eleusinian mysteries, con- 
tained "cakes moulded into the shape of navels, pomegra- 
nates, and the indecorous hieroglyphic of the female princi- 
ple." As Clement's works are out of my reach, I cannot 
say how much closer the analogies may be to the Mexican 
superstition. 

As I consider the ceremonies that belong to all the ancient 
mysteries of Eg)^pt, Phoenicia, Persia, &c, to have been 
originally the very same in purport; we may from the im- 
perfect descriptions of them that have reached our time, 
comprehend partially their general intention; but as any de- 
scription of them, would make a very considerable digres- 
sion from the proper subject of our essay, we must refer our 
readers to the works of Bryant, and especially to the wri- 
tings of Faber on Pagan Idolatry. These writers have 
shewn almost to absolute demonstration, that the ancient 
mysteries, were commemorative of diluvian history and the 
regeneration of mankind; which they perhaps not only con- 
sidered physically, but also in a moral or spiritual sense. 
With these mysterious exhibitions, they also connected their 
physical allegories, their doctrines of transmigrations, and 
no doubt, certain corrupted traditions of the patriarchal wor- 



242 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



ship. Among this last, I consider the idea of the dilacera- 
tion of Orpheus, Bacchus, Osiris, &c. ; which, as far as I can 
perceive, offers no analogy to the history of the great dilu- 
vian patriarch, unless it be of a typical prospective nature, 
which it will very well bear, and thus connect the transmi- 
gration of the first man with Noah; and finally with him, 
who was expected to be the great deliverer of man, and the 
restorer of the golden age. Such traditions are not equivo- 
cally expressed in the writings of both the eastern and 
western mythologists, and are alluded to as all general 
readers know by Virgil in his fourth Eclogue. On this sub- 
ject, however, we shall speak more at large in the concluding 
pages of this essay. 

Besides these more important deities, others were wor- 
shipped by the Mexicans, whose history as far as we can per- 
ceive, do not merit any notice further than a bare enumera- 
tion; such were 

Joalteuctli (god of the night,) probably asynonyme of Meztli, 
or the moon. 

Joalticitl (nightly physician or guardian,) goddess of cradles. 

Jacateuctli (god of commerce.) 

Mixcoatl (goddess of hunting.) 

Opochtli (god of fishing.) 

Huixtocihuatl (goddess of salt.) 

Tzapotlatenan (goddess of physic.) 

Ixtlilton (god of physic.) 

Coatlicue (goddess of flowers.) 

Texcatzoncatl (god of drunkards.) 

Tlazolteotl or Ixcuinha (the goddess of pleasure and licentious- 
ness.)* 

Xipe (god of the goldsmiths) 
Nappateuctli {god of the mat weavers) 
Omacatl (god of mirth.) 

Teteoinan (a deification of a daughter of a king of Colhuacan.) 
Ilmateuctli (goddess of old age.) 

Besides these more considerable gods, there were two hun- 
dred and sixty deities, to whom that number of days, consti- 
tuting a particular cycle were consecrated. 

I do not know whether it was these deities, whom the 
Mexicans worshipped in their houses, as their penates or la- 
res; of which fact Clavigero takes notice, when he relates, 
the kings and princes have six little idols always in their 
houses, the nobility four, and the common people two. (Hist. 
Mex. ii. 25.) 

* Humboldt calls her the "voluptuous goddess;" but we have no account 
whether she was worshipped with obscene rites. It is a curious fact, how- 
ever, that the planet Venus is called after the first name of this goddess. 
(Humboldt, Res, ii. 174.) 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



243 



It seems evident from the accounts given by Humboldt, 
that certain animals were also worshipped by the ancient Mex- 
icans. As I have no authorities of my own on this point, I 
beg leave to introduce the following extract from his Re- 
searches, ii. 48. 

"In the month of January, 1791, a tomb two metres long, 
and one broad, was discovered, filled with fine sand, and con- 
taining a well preserved skeleton of a carnivorous quadruped, 
which appeared to be the coyote or Mexican wolf. Clay 
vases, and small well cast brass bells, were placed near the 
bones. This tomb was no doubt that of some sacred animal; 
for the writers of the sixteenth century inform us, that the 
Mexicans erected small chapels to the wolf, tiger, eagle, and 
snake; and what is more, the priests of the sacred wolf form- 
ed a particular congregation or convent." 

The other nations of Anahuac, generally worshipped the 
same deities as those revered by the Mexicans, but sometimes 
under a different name, and with some variety in their ritual 
ceremonies. The god chiefly worshipped by the Mexicans, 
was Huitzilopochtli; by the Cholulans, Quetzalcoatl; by 
the Totonacas, Centeotl; and by the Ottomies, Mixcoatl. 
The Tlascalans, who emigrated to Anahuac together with the 
Mexicans, worshipped Huitzilopochtli, under the name of 
Camaxtle. We have no signification given us of this appel- 
lation, and it may be an epithet applied to this god, strictly 
Mexican in its etymology. But I cannot help thinking from 
this circumstance, as well as from various other considera- 
tions, that the religious systems of Anahuac when invaded 
by the Spaniards, were not of one similar purpose and design; 
but that they were compounded out of various theological 
superstitions that had prevailed in that country from imme- 
morial time: and that those nations who last emigrated to the 
country, mingled their traditional religion with those they 
found there before them, and hence confusion of character 
exists among them, and departures from their ancient mytho- 
logical peculiarities. 

I think this may be inferred, from the variety of deities 
that these nations chose as their protectors and guardians. 
The Mexicans, who were a warlike tribe, in worshipping 
Huitzilopoctli as their chief divinity, may have in this man- 
ner appropriated to his worship, certain rites that had be- 
longed to a deity peaceful and benignant. The Cholulans, 
among whom we consider the Toltecan rites were more 
especially preserved, worshipped Quetzalcoatl; who we can- 
not but consider as the more ancient deity of the land, as 
his character assimilates itself to that of Saturn, Osiris, and 



244 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



the most ancient divinities of the eastern continent. The 
Totonacas, in worshipping Centeotl the goddess of grain 
and agriculture, shew certainly a scheme very different 
from that of the Mexicans, and which it is not easy to 
imagine could have ever belonged to the same religious 
system, without admitting that a very great departure from 
original principles had taken place. This we may more 
readily believe, would happen with those who made the deity 
of war their chief god, than that others but of equal de- 
mi-civilization, had ceased to worship the god of battles, and 
directed their blameless adoration to an agricultural divinity. 
Under any circumstance of change, however, confusion of 
character and worship would take place, and that spirit of 
engrossing whatever seemed decorous or majestic in the wor- 
ship of any other divinity, to the service of the tutelary deity, 
would sooner or later induce the greatest departures from 
their original types, and attributes almost inconsistent with 
their natures, would be ascribed to these divinities. I must 
however leave the examination of this subject to others, 
which is both interesting and important, and well deserving 
of special inquiry. 

The Mexican divinities were represented by very numerous 
idolatrous images. They were' generally made from clay, 
sometimes of stone or wood, and more rarely of gold, sil- 
ver, or precious stones. They also, anterior to the Spanish 
conquest, paid an idolatrous homage to the figure of the cross: 
but as we have no information on this practice beyond the 
mere fact, we shall postpone our comments until we treat of 
the people of Guatemala. 

It is not known in what manner the ancient Toltecas wor- 
shipped their deities, most probably, however, their rites 
were bloodless. It seems to be the prevailing opinion, that 
the cruel sacrifices of men, so common in Anahuac at the 
time of the conquest, arose from the oppression of the Mex- 
icans, who had subdued the land and established their fero- 
cious and sanguinary religion, wherever they introduced their 
colonies or garrisons. 

They sacrificed men in great numbers, chiefly by cutting 
open the breast of the living victim and tearing out the heart, 
which while quivering with life, they offered to their idols.* 

*It has been conjectured, that human sacrifices were not used by the Mex- 
icans, until after their settlement in Anahuac. To this opinion Humboldt 
seems to incline, though he admits the possibility of their having been an- 
ciently practised among them in their northern abode. I am of opinion the 
latter supposition is correct; for we find it related by Acosta, book 7, chap. 
5th, that when the Mexicans first arrived in Anahuac, a number of persons 
were found dead on the morning after a dispute had taken place among them, 
"whose breasts had been cut open, and their hearts torn out," no doubt a 
contrivance of the priests, who represented their deaths as an instance of 
divine displeasure. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE* 



245 



They drowned the victims offered to Tlaloc; and to Xiuh- 
teuctli, god of fire, they sacrificed men, by first throwing 
them alive into a large fire, whence they soon drew them out 
and cut open their breasts, as already stated. On other oc- 
casions, they shut the victims up in cells or caverns, and 
starved them to death. 

As the Mexicans were a very superstitious people, their 
calendar abounded with fasts, festivals, rejoicings, and bloody 
penances; but which we cannot undertake to describe, as our 
disquisitions are not directed to such an analysis, unless when 
apparently involving matters of some importance in detecting 
the origin of these people. We therefore must refer the 
reader curious in these particulars, to the works of Acosta, 
Clavigero, Humboldt, &c. But that our sketch of their re- 
ligion may not be altogether deficient on these subjects, we 
subjoin the following description of their manner of sacrificing 
men. 

The usual number of priests required at such times, were 
six; one of whom acted as sacrificer, and the others as his 
assistants. They carried the victim dressed in the insignia 
of the god to whom he was to be sacrificed,* around the city, 
and afterwards took him naked to the upper area of the tem- 
ple, when having pointed out to the bystanders the idol to 
whom the sacrifice was to be made, they extended the vic- 
tim on his back over a large convex stone, placed there for 
this purpose, to which he was firmly held down by the assist- 
ants. Then the chief priest, with a sharp flint cut open his 
breast, and tore out with his hand the heart, which whilst 
palpitating, he offered to the sun and then threw it at the 
feet of the idol. It was then taken up and presented to the 
image, and afterwards burned and the ashes preserved with 
great veneration. If the idol was hollow, it was usual to in- 
troduce the heart into its mouth with a gold spoon. After 
these ceremonies, the body was thrown down from the top 
of the temple, where it was taken up by the person who had 
offered the sacrifice and carried to his house, where certain 
portions were cooked for the eating of himself and friends. 
The remainder was burned, or carried to the royal menage 
ries, to feed the wild beasts. 

*It may not be undeserving of notice to mention, that the Mexicans adored 
the victim as they did the deity to whom he was to be offered as a sacrifice. 
Herrera(//isJ. Amer. iii. 207,) says expressly, "they also made gods of living 
men thus: they took a prisoner that was to be sacrificed, gave him the name 
of the idol he was to be offered to, put on him the same ornaments, and as 
long as that mockery lasted, which was sometimes a year, sometimes six 
months, &c, they paid him the same honor as they did to the idol; and when 
he went along the street, the people came out to adore him, and make their 
offerings, and brought out their children and sick persons, for him to cure and 
bless them," &c. 
32 



246 OP THE INSTITUTIONS 

At some festivals, the priests skinned the victims, and for 
several days made their appearance in public with the skins 
thrown over and fastened on their persons. This was done 
especially in the worship of Xipe, god of the goldsmiths. 

Besides human victims, the Mexicans also offered various 
animals to their gods; such as quails, falcons, rabbits, &c. 
Every day at sun rising, the priests made an offering to that 
luminary, of quails whose heads they cut off. This sacrifice 
was succeeded by the burning of certain gums, and with a 
loud accompaniment of musical instruments. 

They also offered their deities flowers, fruits, oblations of 
bread, and cooked dishes of meat, together with much burn- 
ing of copal and other gums, which were accompanied with 
prayers, prostrations, kneeling, fastings, making vows, &c. 

"But while they were thus barbarous and cruel to others, 
it is not wonderful," says Clavigero, "that they practised in- 
humanity towards themselves. Being accustomed to bloody 
sacrifices of their prisoners, they also failed not to shed abun- 
dance of their own blood, conceiving the streams which 
flowed from their victims insufficient to quench the diaboli- 
cal thirst of their gods. It makes one shudder to read the 
austerities which they exercised upon themselves, either in 
atonement of their transgressions, or in preparation for their 
festivals. They pierced themselves with the sharp spines of 
the aloe, and bored several parts of their bodies, particularly 
their ears, lips, tongues, and the fat of their arms and legs; 
through these holes, they introduced pieces of cane, at first 
of small size, and increased them in magnitude as they with- 
drew one to insert another piece," &c. 

Though the Mexicans seem to have exceeded all other 
people in their bloody sacrifices,yet in self-inflictions many pa- 
gans of antiquity fully equalled them. In this manner the 
priests of Baal lacerated their flesh ; ( L Kings, xviii. 28, ) and the 
sanguinary chapter of the Calica Puran, (Jlsiat. Res. v. 387,) 
expressly directs the Hindus, to draw their blood by self-la- 
ceration from the various parts of the body; a ceremony prac- 
tised by them with great devotion to this day. (Ward's 
View of Hindoos, iii. 17, 18, &c.) 

Of the Mexican Priests. 

The priests constituted not only an important class, but 
also a numerous body of the Mexican population. Clavigero 
thinks, there could not have been less than a million of 
them throughout the Mexican empire, employed in the ser- 
vice of the various idols, worshipped by that people. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



247 



The priests were divided into several different orders and 
degrees, which it is presumable, varied according to the 
practices of different nations. Each nation of which the 
empire was composed, retained their ecclesiastical polity ac- 
cording to ancient establishment, for their religion was not 
necessarily changed by the subjugation of the province to 
the dominion of the Mexicans; although they might be 
compelled to furnish these last with victims, for their spe- 
cial idolatrous service. 

Of the priests properly so called, there seems to have 
been two orders; which, after Humboldt, (Research,!. 223,) 
we may call priests, and monks: the first called by the 
Mexicans Teopixquis, and the latter Tlamacazques. 

The priests were governed by several different officers; 
the chief of whom were two high priests, to whom they 
gave the appellations of Teoteuctli, [divine lord,) and Hu- 
eitopixqui, (great priest.) These dignities were only con- 
ferred upon those distinguished for their birth, probity, and 
knowledge of religious rites and ceremonies. They were 
the diviners whom the kings consulted on the most impor- 
tant matters of state, and no war was undertaken without 
their approbation. They consecrated the king after his elec- 
tion, and officiated at the more solemn sacrifices. 

The dignity of high priest was conferred by election; but 
we are ignorant whether the electors were political or 
priestly. The high priests of Mexico were distinguished 
by a tuft of cotton, which hung from their breasts; and at 
the principal festivals by splendid habits, upon which were 
represented the insignia of the god whose festival they cele- 
brated. 

Acting under the authority of the high priests, by whom 
they were also appointed, were various officers; such as a 
master of rites and ceremonies, superior general of the se- 
minaries, composer of hymns, &c, whom it would be unne- 
cessary to describe more particularly. To every division of 
the capital, and probably to every great city, was appointed 
a priest of superior rank, who acted as rector of that dis- 
trict, and ordered every act of religion which was to be 
performed within the bounds of his jurisdiction. All these 
rectors were subject to the authority of the superior gene- 
ral of seminaries. 

All the offices of religion were divided among the priests; 
some were sacrificers, others diviners, some composers of 
hymns, and others choristers, who sung at particular hours 
both of the day and night. Some priests kept the temple 
clean, some took care of the altars; others were employed 



248 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



in the instruction of youth, others in observing the calendar, 
ordering of festivals, and care of the mythological paintings. 
The dress of the Mexican priests was in no manner dif- 
ferent from that of the people in general, except a black 
cotton mantle, which they wore as a vail upon their heads. 

They observed many fasts, and lived in great austerity of 
life, seldom or never tasting intoxicating liquors, and ab- 
staining from all commerce with their wives, when employ- 
ed in their religious duties. 

The office of priest, among the Mexicans was not neces- 
sarily perpetual; though some dedicated their whole lives to 
this function. Others engaged themselves only for a certain 
time, after which they again followed secular employments. 
Nor was this practice confined to men alone; women often 
engaged themselves under similar vows, and performed al- 
most every office of men but that of sacrificing, from which 
they were excluded. They were not, however, eligible to 
the higher dignities of the priesthood. 

The Tlamacazques, or monks and nuns, were celibates of 
either sex, who devoted themselves to the worship of parti- 
cular gods; of which those of Quetzalcoatl, were the most 
remarkable. According to Clavigero, they lived in monas- 
teries, each sex apart, and their life was uncommonly rigid 
and austere. It would seem, that these celibates were dedi- 
cated to the idol by their parents, from infancy; but I pre- 
sume they had the power to leave the monastery if they 
chose, when arrived at mature age. The superiors of these 
monasteries bore the same name as the god. 

The monks of Tezcatlipoca, did not live together, but 
each one had his own habitation. 

The monks of Centeotl, among the Totonacas, were re- 
quired to be above sixty years of age, previous to their ad- 
mission in the monastery. Their number was fixed, and 
when one died another was received in his place. They 
lived, says Clavigero, "in great retirement and austerity; 
and their life, excepting their superstition and vanity, was 
perfectly unimpeachable." 

The priests and monks were supported by revenues al- 
lotted to the support of the temples, and by lands cultivated 
for their maintenance. This income, in addition to the 
offerings of individuals, was not only sufficient for their sup- 
port, but an overplus was accumulated, which was distri- 
buted among the indigent laity.* 

* Cortez, in his letters to Charles 5th, (Humboldt, Pol. Ess. ii. 127,) ob- 
serves, that there were many beggars in the streets of Cholula, "who-«asked 
alms from the rich in the streets and market places, as is done in Spain and 

other civilived countries." 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



249 



There is nothing particularly remarkable in the history of 
the Mexican priests and their monks and nuns. Among all 
idolatrous nations, though the general practice may have 
been different, yet continence and chastity have been always 
honoured, and those pagans who did not make religion sub- 
servient to their sensuality, have sought for purification of 
soul in austerities of every kind. Even among the lewd 
Syrians, the priests at times emasculated themselves, cer- 
tainly not for debauchery, as is most strangely charged upon 
them by various writers. 

Persons of either sex devoted to a life of religious celiba- 
cy, were to be found among all ancient nations, and the 
practice is yet followed extensively in eastern Asia. 

Tertulian informs us, that among the worshippers of Mith- 
ras in his time, were celibates of both sexes, "Mithra habet 
et virgines, habet et continentes." {Hyde, Bel. Vet. Pers. 
113.) 

A profession of celibacy in convents, either of males or 
females, is common among the people of Siam, Pegu, Laos, 
Japan, &c, which they can renounce at any time, their vows 
not binding them for life. 

In the Canary islands, (Glas, Hist. Canaries, 69,) at the 
time of their discovery, were found convents of religious 
women. 

Of the Mexican Temples. 

Among the most curious particulars of Mexican antiqui- 
ties, were their idolatrous temples, which cost great labour 
and trouble in their erection; as may be seen from the fol- 
lowing descriptions. 

The great temple of Mexico, which occupied the centre 
of the city, was surrounded by a wall, enclosing a square 
space well paved with stone, which Cortez affirms, would 
have contained five hundred houses. This wall was built of 
stone and lime, very thick, about eight feet high, and orna- 
mented with many stone figures of serpents, from which 
circumstance, it derived its name Coatepantli, or wall of 
serpents. There were four gates through this wall, one 
opposed to each of the cardinal points of the compass, and 
over each gate was an arsenal, containing a large supply of 
military weapons, and warlike equipments. Besides the 
principal temple, there were within the great area, accord- 
ing to Clavigero, forty smaller temples consecrated to va- 
rious deities, several colleges of priests, and some semina- 
ries for children. 

The great temple, was an immense square mound of earth 



250 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



and stones, so constructed as to represent a truncated pyra- 
mid with five stories or bodies; i. e. each of the upper bo- 
dies occupied a smaller space than the one immediately be- 
neath, so that there was a space around the base of each 
body of five or six feet in width, whereon persons might 
walk round each of the stories. 

The upper body was flat on the top, on which the temples 
proper were built, and other appurtenances of their worship 
were placed. The steps by which they ascended to the up- 
per area, were not carried directly from the bottom to the 
top, but reached only from body to body, and were so con- 
trived, that any one ascending to the top of the mound, had 
to walk four times round the whole mound, before he at- 
tained the summit. (Clavigero, Hist. Mex. ii. 31.) The 
mound was faced with stone, and its dimensions according 
to the best authorities, were 320 feet square at the base, and 
120 feet high. (Gomara, in Purchas, iii. 1133. Humboldt, 
Pol. Essay, ii. 15.) 

Though Clavigero asserts, there were two towers erected on 
the upper stage, he admits, that there is some difficulty in 
ascertaining the precise truth respecting the fact. I shall 
therefore venture to differ from his conjectures on this par- 
ticular, and follow the account of Bernal Dias; (Conq. of 
Mex. 146, 148,) who says, there was but one tower, which 
appears to me also to be the relation of Gomara, (Purchas 
Pilgrims, iii. 1133,) if rightly translated. With this ex- 
ception, Clavigero's account I presume is correct; for what 
he says of one tower or chapel being dedicated to Huitzilo- 
pochtli, and the other to Tezcatlipoca, is in effect the same 
with the account of Bernal Dias, who says, that in the one 
tower he describes, were two highly adorned altars, one 
dedicated to each of the above deities, and over which their 
idolatrous images were placed. 

Before the tower or sanctuary, according to Clavigero, 
were two stone stoves of the height of a man, in the shape 
of the pyx. In these were maintained perpetual fires, and 
with whose extinguishment the Mexicans apprehended the 
greatest calamities. 

On the upper stage, but close to its edge, was that large 
convex stone upon which they extended their human vic- 
tims, which were sacrificed in the manner already noted. 

The principle strikingly evident in the construction of 
this temple, is the same with that of the oldest building re- 
corded in history: to wit, the tower of Babel, which, with 
Bochart, (Phaleg. chap, ix.) I consider was that described 
by Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, as the temple of Jupiter 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



251 



Belus. "Credo earn turrim post dispersationem diu stetisse, 
adeoque illam esse turrim qua? Belo deinceps consecrata est, 
quam multis describit Herodotus lib. i." 

The temple of Belus was at its base, a square of a furlong 
on each side, and consisted of eight towers or bodies ap- 
pearing to be built one above the other. The ascent to the 
top was by stairs on the outside, formed by a sloping line 
from the bottom to the top, passing eight times round, so as 
to exhibit the appearance of eight towers. In these different 
towers or bodies, were many rooms and apartments devoted 
to idolatrous and astronomical uses. 

In this temple two distinct deities were worshipped; one the 
supreme God of Heaven, while Belus was the delegated god 
upon earth. {Herodotus, lib. i. clxxxi, &c.) 

These particulars of idolatrous worship, complete the per- 
fect analogy that exists between the Mexican and Babylo- 
nian temples: for the American people worshipped in like 
manner two deities as we have already stated, one being the 
god of war and protector of Mexico, the other the supreme 
god Tezcatlipoca. 

It is almost needless to add to this description the con- 
firmatory declaration of Baron Humboldt, who in various 
parts of his valuable writings, calls the attention of his 
readers to these evident analogies. It will be sufficient for 
the present, to produce the following quotation. "It is im- 
possible to read the descriptions, which Herodotus and Dio- 
dorus Siculus have left us of the temple of Jupiter Belus, 
without being struck with the resemblance of that Babylo- 
nian monument, to the teocallis (temples) of the Mexicans." 
(Humboldt, Res. i. S2.) The chapter from whence this ex- 
tract is made, is one of great interest, containing descriptions 
of other pyramidal temples, yet existing in the kingdom of 
Mexico, and notices of several remarkable features of their 
construction, resembling ancient monuments of the eastern 
continent; which as -far as the nature of our essay will jus- 
tify we shall introduce, that our readers may have every 
opportunity of judging of the character of these curious 
monuments of ancient Anahuac. 

"At the period when the Mexicans or Aztecs, one of the 
seven tribes of the Nahuatlacks took possession in the year 
A. D. 1190, of the equinoctial region of new Spain, they 
already found the pyramidal monuments of Teotihuacan, 
of Cholula, and of Papantla. They attributed these great 
edifices to the Toltecas, a powerful and civilized nation who 
inhabited Mexico five hundred years earlier, who made use 
of hieroglyphical characters, who computed the year more 



252 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



precisely? and had a more exact chronology, than the greater 
part of the people of the old continent. The Aztecs knew 
not with certainty what tribes had inhabited the country be- 
fore the Toltecas, and consequently, the belief that the tem- 
ples of Teotihuacan and of Cholula were the work of the 
Toltecks, was assigning them the highest antiquity they could 
conceive. It is however possible, that they might have been 
constructed before the invasion of the Toltecks, that is be- 
fore the year 648, of the vulgar era."* (Humboldt, Res. 
i. 82.) 

With this introduction, which happily connects, in a few 
words, the doubtful history of the origin of these monuments 
with the chronological epochs of Mexican history, we shall 
now proceed to describe as briefly as possible, the pyramidal 
temples to which he has alluded. 

The most ancient, as well as the largest of these pyramidal 
temples, is that of Cholula, which we have already noticed 
was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl the god of the air. It consists 
of four stories, all of equal height, and appears to have been 
constructed exactly in the direction of the four cardinal 
points; but as the edges of the stories are not very distinct, 
it is difficult to ascertain exactly their primitive direction. 
Its perpendicular height is 177 feet, and each side of its 
base 1,423 feet: its base is therefore twice as broad as the 
largest Egyptian pyramid, but its height is little more than 
that of the third, or pyramid of Mycerinus. 

It is composed of unbaked brick, t alternating with layers 
of clay; and in its interior, as in other teocallis, there are 
considerable cavities, which were discovered a few years be- 
fore Humboldt's visit to Mexico on cutting a road through 
the lower stage or body of this monument. From this cir- 
cumstance, a square room was discovered in the interior of 
the pyramid, built of stone, and supported by beams made 
of cypress. In this chamber were found two skeletons, 
some idols of basalt, and a great number of vases curiously 
painted and varnished. It is said there was no entrance to 
this room, which would imply, that the skeletons were of 
persons who had been enclosed there when the pyramid was 
built. (Humboldt, Res. i. 88.) 

The two pyramids of Teotihuacan, are situated eight 
leagues N. E. of Mexico, and were formerly consecrated 

* Siguenza, an eminent Mexican antiquarian, considered the pyramids of 
Teotihuacan to have been built by the Olmecks; a race, of whose emigra- 
tion to Anahuac we have no account. (Clavigero, Hist. Mexico, i. 117, note.) 

f Humboldt, (Res. i. 106.) considers it possible, that the bricks may have 
been slightly burned, and that the humidity of the air may have rendered 
them friable. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 253 

according to Mexican tradition, to the sun and moon. They 
were composed of clay mixed with small stones; and then 
coated with a thick wall of porous amygdaloid. Traces of 
a coat of mortar of lime, may be seen covering the stones on 
the outside. The Indian tradition says, they are hollow, a 
fact however which has not been yet verified. Originally 
they consisted of four stories, of which but three are now 
discernible. The height of the pyramid of the sun, in its 
present state is 180 feet, with a base of 682 feet. The py- 
ramid of the moon, is 36 feet less in height, and its base 
much smaller than that of the sun. 

Around these pyramids, which stand in a plain called 
Micoatl, or road of the dead, are several hundred small 
pyramids, laid off in streets, in exact lines from N. to S., 
and from E. to W., which it is certain enough, designated 
the burying places of the chiefs of tribes. This circum- 
stance, so analogous with the disposition of the small pyra- 
mids around those of Memphis, induces Humbolt to ex- 
claim, "what analogies with the monuments of the old con- 
tinent! and this Tolteck people, who on arriving in the se- 
venth century on Mexican soil, constructed on a uniform 
plan several of those colossal monuments; those truncated 
pyramids divided by layers like the temple of Belus at 
Babylon, whence did they take the model of these edifices? 
Were they of Mongol race? did they descend from a com- 
mon stock with the Chinese, the Hiong-nu, and the Japa- 
nese?" (Humboldt, Pol. Essay, ii. 45.) 

We purposely omit the description of the pyramid of Pa- 
pantla, which was of similar construction but much smaller, 
and built of hewn stone; as well as any description of the 
numerous small temples of the Mexicans, which were com- 
posed of a small single mound with the steps leading di- 
rectly to the top. 

The prejudice of considering the Tolteck or Mexican na- 
tions, to have emigrated to America from Asia in compara- 
tively modern times, is the only circumstance that embar- 
rasses the curious fact, that these American temples have 
been constructed upon the plan of the tower of Babel. But 
why may we not assign to this western continent, at least a 
part of its population immediately derived from the plain of 
Shinar; whence, as we are assured in the Scriptures, man- 
kind were scattered "abroad upon the face of all the 
earth," and which as far as I can perceive, is a supposition 
not more improbable, than that they arrived in this continent 
at ; a latter period? 

There can be little doubt, that the pyramidal style of tem» 
33 



254 



OP THE INSTITUTIONS 



ple-building, is the most ancient recorded in the history of 
idolatrous worship. It is not only to be observed in the 
antiquities of the early civilized nations of Asia, but it has 
from peculiar circumstances, continued among those nations, 
who from various physical causes, have been secluded from 
a general intercourse with their fellow men. As there are 
circumstances connected with these pyramidal or montiform 
temples, of an entirely arbitrary character, we cannot consi- 
der the uniform resemblance they bear to each other, as 
having been fortuitous, but on the contrary, that they have 
been derived from one type, which I think will be eventually 
shewn, was that tower of Babel,* from whence mankind 
were dispersed over the earth. But before we venture to 
speculate upon this subject, it will be proper to shew how 
far we are supported by facts. 

In travelling over those countries in which the first post 
diluvian monarchies were erected, we shall find these great 
pyramidal mounds still remaining, where cities have disap- 
peared, and where their names have even been forgotten. 
Thus Sir R. K. Porter, {Travels in Persia, &c, ii. 280,) 
observes, "immense pyramidal piles seem to be the peculiar 
marks, by which we may discover at least the sites of the 
earliest settlements of mankind." Similar observations 
have been made by Buckingham, {Travels in Messopota- 
mia,) and Keppel (Travels, &c, i 274, 288, 290, &c.) 
frequently describes the ruins of large mounds in this most 
anciently settled part of the earth. 

The ancient idolatrous worship in high places, so well 
known in the history of the Jews, testifies to the same anti- 
quity of idolatrous practice. Where hills or mountains 
were conveniently situated, they were no doubt made use of 
for such purposes; but in plains or level countries, they 
erected their montiform temples by human labour. Num- 
bers of these mounds are yet to be seen in Syria. Volney 
{Travels in Egypt and Syria, ii, 165,) observed many in 
the Pachalic of Aleppo, one of which he describes as being 
1400 feet in circumference, and 100 in height. 

The most ancient pyramids of Egypt at Sakara, Salahaye, 
&c, (Norden, Travels, i. 148, plate 65. Ld. Sandwich's, 
Tour, 461,) consisting of four or five stages or bodies, are 
on the same plan with the Babylonian temple. And even 

* By this we are not to be understood as asserting, the tower of Babel was 
a model which they simply undertook to imitate, but that the continuance of 
those peculiar views, that originally led to the erection of that montiform 
temple, had influenced men eisewhere to make similar temples. Yet even 
of the very tower of Babel, we have shewn the Tolteck nations had preserv- 
ed a remembrance. 



QP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



255 



the pyramids of Memphis or Gize, though to a certain de- 
gree departing from this original plan of construction, are 
nevertheless instances in point. In the Egpytian temples, 
Bruce (Travels, i. 127,) remarked the truncated pyramidal 
style, which may be verified by an examination of the draw- 
ings of Luxor, Apollinopolis or Etfu, Philoe, &c. as repre- 
sented by various travellers in Egypt. 

It may be said that these Egyptian pyramids are tombs, 
which we do not dispute, at least in part, believing with 
Faber, {Origin of Idol. iii. 297, &c.) that they were my- 
thological tombs, which constituted the first departure from 
the original montiform temple; a further departure may 
have made them real tombs for kings and priests, as was 
also partially done by the Mexicans. 

Ksempher {Hist. Japan, i. 32,) describes the temple of 
Puka-thon in Siam, to be a pyramid divided into four stories, 
one built over the other, and leaving a space around the base 
of each story whereon persons might walk. Instead of being 
"flat on the top, it terminates in a lofty spire, which, howe- 
ver, is an immaterial variation: around its base are the 
dwellings of the priests. 

The temples of Godama, (Budha,) among the Burmas, 
are of the same style and character. Dr. Buchannan (Asiat. 
Res. vi. 293,) describes them, as being built sometimes of 
solid brick work, at other times hollow, placed on prodi- 
gious elevated terraces, and raised from three to five hun- 
dred feet in height. The bases of these immense pyramidal 
temples, are frequently surrounded by a double row of small 
pyramids, as may be seen in Symes' Embassy to Ava, ii. 
62; plate 3. 

We shall not stop to notice instances less conspicuous in 
India, or China. The pyramids of Tanjore and Deogur of 
the first named, are well known;* and all writers mention 
the mound of fifty feet high, which is an essential part of 
the annual agricultural festival of the latter. The Scythians 
{Herod Melp ii. 235,) erected mounds of wood, which we 
suppose, were similar to the one built by Atilla, which Gib- 
bon (Decline, &c. v. 44,) says, was three hundred feet 
square. 

In the larger islands of the Pacific ocean, the morais of the 
natives have a similar pyramidal character. Cook (Second 
Voy. ii 567,) describes the morai of Oberea, as a "prodigious 
pile of stone, two hundred and sixty-seven feet in length, and 

* Mr. Burrow (Jlsiat.Res ii. 477,) also makes mention of the ruins of a 
large pyramidal building in Hadjipore, which he compares to the pyramid of 
Dashour in Egypt. This instance seems little known. 



256 



OP THE INSTITUTIONS 



eighty-seven wide at the base. It is raised by flights of steps 
to the height of forty-four feet, narrowing gradually till they 
end in a small entablature, &c. This work being solid, and 
without a cavity, will last as long as the island itself, and no 
time that will not equally affect the island can destroy it." 

Other and similar monuments at Otaheite, the Sandwich, 
Friendly islands, &c, may be seen described in Cook's third 
voyage, iii. 6; Voy. N. Hem. i. 262, 313, 318; Missionary 
Voy. 279, &c. 

We shall merely add to the descriptions already given, the 
fact that numerous small artificial mounds are found among all 
the ruder nations of the world; which in all probability have 
been partly raised for similar purposes. See article Taph, 
Tuph, &c, Bryant, Anal. Anct. Myth. i. 93,449, ii. 54, &c. 

Small temples on the Mexican plan, with stairs on the out- 
side, are still erected in the kingdom of Nepal. {Asiat. Res. 
ii. 310.) To the same purpose, at least in part, we ascribe 
many of those mounds found in our western country; 
which we shall hereafter describe more particularly in ano- 
ther chapter. 

In the preceding brief description of idolatrous temples 
both of ancient and modern times, we consider that we have 
exhibited the fact, that they are decidedly constructed upon 
the pyramidal type, which some perhaps might suppose would 
be the most probable shape they would assume among all na- 
tions, whose civilization had not attained to a certain degree 
of perfection. But the ancient Chaldeans, Egyptians, and 
Hindoos were highly civilized; and even the Mexicans can 
hardly be considered a rude nation: yet why have they wor- 
shipped their gods either on mountain tops, or erected vast 
mounds near their habitations, whereon they could perform 
their idolatrous rites? Whence that singular attachment to 
worship on high places, that so frequently appears in the 
history of the defections of the Jewish nation, so that even 
Solomon after building the magnificent temple at Jerusalem, 
yet in a latter year of his life built a high place for Che- 
mosh? (1. Kings, xi. 7.) 

But it is evident from the mythological histories of anti- 
quity, that there was an object, especially significant in these 
montiform temples, which I cannot but consider has been 
fairly developed by the ingenious researches of Bryant, Fa- 
ber, and the members of that illustrious society of Calcutta, 
whose investigations have thrown so much light on the early 
history of mankind. 

On referring to the history of the confusion at Babel, we 
find that all mankind, then dwelling together as one large 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



251 



family in the plain of Shinar, undertook to erect a stupendous 
building, whose exact purpose we cannot directly ascertain 
from the sacred records. But it is evident it must have been 
undertaken upon some denned and intelligible principle, or 
else men would not have wasted their time and labour upon 
a work of such magnitude. We can hardly doubt, but that 
it was connected with that incipient system of idolatry, which 
was afterwards developed in Chaldea, Egypt, Persia, &c, to 
that astonishing degree, that in less than five hundred years 
after the dispersion, when the call of Abraham took place, 
it would seem that the knowledge and worship of the true 
God had been so entirely corrupted, that a new revelation to 
that patriarch was made; and it is not equivocally stated, that 
his family also, were idolaters like the rest of the world. 
(Joshua, xxiv. 2.) 

As the history of the tower of Babel is so intimately con- 
nected with our present investigation, and as it will be found 
to give a solution to some other subjects of apparently great 
obscurity, we shall now proceed to introduce the learned and 
ingenious opinion of Faber, which happily explains the 
object of that erection, and the commencement of pagan 
idolatry; whose apparent mysteries have been so ingeniously 
explained by Bryant and himself. 

Mr. Faber considers that the ark in which Noah and his 
family were preserved from the awful destruction that over- 
whelmed the antediluvian world, continued for some time on 
mount Ararat, the habitation of the patriarch and family. As 
his posterity increased in numbers around this mountain, the 
ark would be ever before them to remind them of their 
fathers' wonderful preservation, and the consequent regene- 
ration of the human family, in which his immediate descen- 
dants must have experienced no ordinary emotions. It would 
require too much of our time to detail all the matters of lo- 
cal interest connecting the history of mount Ararat, the 
ark, and the regeneration of mankind together in this 
most interesting locality. It must be sufficient for us to re- 
mark, that here also the worship of the true God, according 
to the rites he had revealed to Noah, was practised under 
that probationary system to which, as a free agent, God has 
universally subjected mankind. Here also were preserved 
to a greater or less degree, a knowledge of antediluvian arts 
and sciences, which were to serve useful purposes in the re- 
novated world. In fine, as Faber has well expressed it, the 
ark was a microcosm, a little world, containing every thing 
interesting in the early history of mankind. 

After the death of Noah and his three sons, Mr. Faber 



258 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



supposes mankind to have journeyed from Ararat to the plain 
of Shinar, especially under the guidance of Nimrod and the 
family of Cush. Even at this early time, they had to a cer- 
tain degree corrupted the religion of their forefathers; which 
I think it not improbable, had been hastened by certain spe- 
culative opinions of the antediluvian infidels, which either his- 
torically or unheedingly had been imparted to them by the 
relations and communications of those, who had been ac- 
quainted with such things before the flood. But however 
this may have been, Mr. Faber supposes, that when they ar- 
rived at the plains of Babylon, they presently undertook the 
erection of the tower mentioned in the Bible, as a symbolic 
representation of that mountain upon which the ark first rest- 
ed; and which most probably, had coincided geographically 
%vith the garden of Eden, and the paradise of our first parents; 
a circumstance that has not been overlooked in the mytho- 
logical figments of antiquity. 

As the tower was not completed, at least at this time, for 
mankind were interrupted in the work, and dispersed over 
the earth, and as we have no history coeval with these times, 
we can only conjecture from mythological traditions of much 
later date, and when the departure from the worship of the 
true God had been almost carried to its greatest extent, that 
men intended here to represent scenically, yet religiously, 
the events of the diluvian history, blended with those specu- 
lative opinions they appear to have imbibed at a very early 
period, concerning periodic destructions of the world, and re- 
generations of mankind. These they may have erroneously 
inferred from the history of the primitive fall of man and his 
expulsion from Eden; from the destruction of the antediluvian 
world by the flood; and by a prospective view of that final 
consummation of all things, when man should regain that 
blissful state, from which he had fallen through the artifices 
of the tempter. But without going further into this investi- 
gation at present, I think it evident from the various autho- 
rities produced by Faber, {Origin of Pag. Idol. ii. 193, &e.) 
that the tower or Babel was a symbolic representation of 
mount Ararat; and a confirming proof of the correctness of 
his theory, will be found in the tradition of the Cholulans 
concerning the history of the erection of their montiform 
temple; a circumstance with which Faber appears to have 
been entirely unacquainted. Though we have previously 
related that tradition, we deem it too important, as throwing 
light upon a subject connected with the history of man, to be 
omitted at the present time. That tradition relates, that after 
a universal deluge, in which the human race had been des- 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



250 



ifcroyed with the exception of seven individuals, who had saved 
themselves in a cavern on mount Tlaloc, that Xelhua, one of 
these persons, (giants) surnamed the architect, went to Cho- 
lula, where "as a memorial of the mount Tlaloc, which 
had served as an asylum to himself and his six brethren, 
he built an artificial hill in the form of a pyramid. 
The gods beheld with wrath this edifice the top of which 
was to reach the clouds, and hurling fire on it, destroj^ed 
many of the workmen, and caused the work to be discon- 
tinued."* {Humboldt, Res. i. 96.) 

In this tradition, in which the history of the tower of Ba- 
bel is applied to the pyramid of Cholula, we have its object 
most distinctly stated, and in a manner which establishes the 
authenticity of the tradition, as being original and not derived 
from the Spanish priests, who were not only ignorant of any 
such system as that developed by Faber, but who would never 
have instructed the natives, that seven persons instead of 
eight survived the flood, or that the displeasure of the gods 
was ever manifested on the pyramid of Cholula. 

Thus we think, that the antiquities of Mexico have thrown 
an important light upon the ancient history of the world, and 
have at least in this one particular, given a firmer basis to 
those theories, which explain so many important features in 
the moral history of man, and enable us to comprehend some 
of the mysteries and allegories of ancient paganism, which 
at one time entirely overshadowed the earth. As the re- 
searches of learned men have abundantly shewn that the 
principles of idolatrous worship originated at that early period 
of time when all mankind were living together as one fam- 
ily or nation, what so probable, nay, what other model could 
they have followed, in constructing their temples after the 
dispersion from Babel, but that tower which was essentially 
connected with their idolatrous system; and which we have 
indeed proved, has been assumed as the model of religious 
buildings, all over the earth? 

It may be possibly insisted, that according to our views 
the pyramidal style of temple building should be more uni- 

* "Rios,to prove the high antiquity of this fable of Xelhua, observes, that 
it was contained in a hymn which the Cholulans sung at their festivals, danc- 
ing round the temple, (teocalli) and that this hymn, began with the words, 
Tulanian hululaez, which are words belonging to no dialect at present known 
in Mexico. In every part of the globe, on the ridge of the Cordilleras, as 
we!l as in the isle of Samothrace in the Egean sea, fragments of primitive 
languages are preserved in religious rites." { Humboldt as quoted in the text.) 
Of this nature were the words conx, om, pax, used in the mysteries of Eleu- 
sis, which have been found in the Sanscrit, and explained As. Res v. 300. 
For a most extraordinary preservation of Chaldee words in the Bruidica* 
mysteries, see Faber, Orig. Idol. iii. 170. 



260 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



versal than we have proved to be the case. To this objection 
we beg leave to answer, that we have produced but a few of the 
instances we might have done, had we deemed it proper. 
But we have alone contended, that the most ancient artifi- 
cial temples were of this construction; not denying the cor- 
ruption of the ancient idolatry itself, which as it lost sight of 
the worship of the true God, in like manner forgot its own 
original constitution, and departed to a very great degree from 
its scenical representations. We may also add, that the temple 
properly speaking, was situated on the pyramidal mound, and 
that when the symbolic meaning of the mound was lost, it 
might seem an excessive labour to construct these imitative 
mountains, without discerning their object, and which re- 
moved the temple, upon which all the ornamental decorations 
of art were displayed to an inconvenient distance, besides cir- 
cumscribing them in magnitude. For neither an extensive, 
nor perhaps even a marble temple at all, could be erected on 
an artificial mound; whose want of solidity may be estimated 
by the almost impossible attempt, of building an ordinary 
house upon what is called made ground, without its walls 
giving way. 

Of the Cosmogonal and T raditional History of the Mex- 
icans. 

The Spanish authors who have written upon Mexican an- 
tiquities, have not related to us the peculiar opinions of the 
Mexicans concering the origin of the material world; or 
whether they thought it to have been eternal: but they all 
remark, that like various Asiatic nations, the Mexicans con- 
sidered the history of the world to have been divided into 
four or five great periods, analogous to the Yugs of the Hin- 
doos; or to the more commonly known tflges of ancient 
Greece. 

Thus they said, that four times previous to the present 
age the sun had been destroyed, and that all mankind, with 
the exception of two or three individuals, had perished in 
certain universal catastrophes of nature. From the persons 
thus preserved, the world had been replenished with inhabi- 
tants five several times, while as many different suns had 
risen to illuminate the renovated world. 

The first sun or age of the Mexicans, was called tlato- 
natiuh, or age of the earth, which lasted according to 
Mexican manuscripts consulted by Humboldt, (Res. ii. 19,) 
5206 years, and according to Clavigero, (Hist. Mex. i. 329,) 
until the ruin of the giants, and the great earthquakes. But 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



261 



Humboldt asserts, it was terminated by a universal famine, 
and its consequent desolation, from which but two men and 
one woman escaped, who became the parents of those who 
lived during the second age. 

The second sun or age was called tletonatiuh, or age 
of fire, which lasted 4S04 years. It was terminated by a 
very great conflagration, which consumed every animal but 
the birds, who flying upwards in the air avoided its fury. 
But one man and woman were preserved from the univer- 
sal destruction by hiding themselves in the recesses of a ca- 
vern. 

The third sun, ehecatonatiuh, the age of wind or air, 
continued 4010 years, and was terminated by hurricanes; 
which is said, if rightly deciphered, to have destroyed the 
human, race excepting two men, who were saved in a cavern 
as in the preceding catastrophe. 

The fourth sun, atonatiuh, or age of water, continued 
4008 years, and was terminated by a deluge, which destroyed 
mankind to the exception of one man and his wife, who 
saved themselves in a canoe from the destruction of the wa- 
ters. These individuals are known by the names of Coxcox, 
and his wife Xochiquetzal; and from them are descended the 
present race of men. 

Upon these suns or ages, Humboldt (Res. ii. 25,) makes 
the following observation: "If the duration of the Mexican 
four suns, were longer by three years; and if for the num- 
bers 5206, 4804, 4010, and 4008 years, the numbers 5206, 
4807, 4009, and 4009, were substituted, we might suppose, 
that these cycles originated from a knowledge of the lunar 
period of nineteen years. But whatever be their real ori- 
gin, it does not appear less certain that they are fictions of 
astronomical mythology, modified either by an obscure re- 
membrance of some great revolution which our planet has 
undergone, or according to the physical and geological hy- 
pothesis," &c. 

The very near approximation of these numbers, to those 
arising from a multiplication of the cycle of nineteen years, 
can hardly be considered fortuitous. But we feel ourselves 
unable to enter upon a further astronomical discussion, 
where we not only are entirely deficient in materials, but it 
is even necessary that the duration of these periods be de- 
termined; for there is a discrepancy between them as given 
by Humboldt, and as related by Mexican writings of great 
authority; as may be seen in Humboldt, Res. ii. 2S. 

The analogy which these suns offer to the Yugs of the 
Hindus, and to the poetical ages of the Greeks, is too evi- 
34 



262 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



dent to require any comment. The system is of the greatest 
antiquity, and has been widely extended. The Persians, 
the most ancient of postdiluvian nations, also recognise the 
division. (Bailly, Hist. Astron. i. 108.) The people of 
Thibet, and other nations of the east, &c. 

It is not clearly expressed by any of the Mexican histo- 
rians accessible to me, whether their cosmogonal revolutions 
are four or five; i. e. whether the fifth sun, which is the pre- 
sent one, is the reappearance of the tlatonatiuh or age of 
the earth, or really a fifth period of time. The Hindu sys- 
tem of Yugs, seems to require us to consider them perfected 
in four revolutions, of which the present is the fourth or 
Caly Yug; but on its termination, the Sata Yug again com- 
mences the series of renovations. 

On the whole, however, I am inclined to think, that the 
Mexicans considered the present sun or age a distinct fifth 
period, which is a division apparently of great, antiquity, 
being known to the people of Thibet, [Humboldt, Res. ii. 
31.) as also to the ancient Greeks. Thus Hesiod says, "Oh 
why did fate ordain me to be among the men of this fifth 
age." [Opera et Dies, 174.) 

I have already stated, that a division by fifths, (page 220.) 
appears to characterise the ancient astronomical systems of 
Asia, and which is seemingly supported by the fact, that the 
Egyptians, Chinese, Hindoos, Japanese, &c, recognise the 
universe as composed of five elements: (Diod. Sic. lib. 1. 
chap. 1. Du Halde, Hist. China, iii. 92. Sir Wm. 
Jones, vii. 92. 96. Kasmpher, Hist. Japan, i. J 57,) each 
of which in rotation, might be supposed to exercise alternate 
domination over the world, a compound of them all. 

Following the account which relates Coxcox to be the 
progenitor of the present race of men, we find the Mexican 
tradition reports, {Clavigero, Hist. Mex. ii. 5,) that when 
mankind were overwhelmed with the deluge, none were 
preserved but a man called Coxcox, or as he is otherwise 
known Teocipactli, and a woman called Xochiquetzal, who 
saved themselves in a little bark, and landed upon a moun- 
tain called Colhuacan. They had there a great many chil- 
dren, whom the Mexicans report, were all born dumb, until 
a dove from a lofty tree imparted languages to them, but dif- 
fering so much that they could not understand each other. 
(Clavig. Hist. Mex. ii. 5. Humboldt, Res. ii. 64.) 

The people of Mechoachan preserved a tradition, that 
Coxcox, whom they call Tezpi, embarked in a spacious ves- 
sel with his wife, children, various animals, and vegetables, 
whose use was important to man. After the waters began 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



263 



to decrease, Tezpi sent out from his ark a vulture to ascer- 
tain the state of the waters, but this bird, which feeds on 
carrion, did not return to him, in consequence of the number 
of dead bodies which were to be found every where strewed 
on the earth. Tezpi then sent out other birds, of which the 
humming bird alone returned, holding in its beak a branch 
covered with leaves. Tezpi seeing that the earth had began 
to produce vegetation, left his vessel near the mountain of 
Colhuacan. (Humboldt, lies. ii. 65. Clavig. Hist. Mex. 
iii. 151.) 

To these remarkable traditions, so consonant with the nar- 
ration of the Scriptures, we shall add no comment, as indeed 
they require none; and if any doubts as to their originality 
are suggested, we consider them removed by the candid and 
impartial evidence of Humboldt, whom no one will charge 
of undue bias on this subject. (See his Researches, \. 196, 
ii. 60. 64, &c. 

But, like the cosmogonal systems of other pagan nations, 
the Mexicans embarrass our speculations, by the variety of 
their traditions concerning their ancient history. Thus we 
have just seen that they deduce their origin from Coxcox, 
yet in some manner which we are now unable to explain, 
they also say that the Nahuatlacks, or the seven nations of 
Mexico, (page 177) came forth from seven caves; which 
piece of history is designated in their hieroglyphic paintings, 
(Jicosta, Hist. lib. 7,) by a drawing of seven caves, and 
men coming forth from them. See also Humboldt, Res. ii. 32. 

This tradition, which is also found among the Peruvians 
slightly modified, is not however an arbitrary one in our 
opinion, but seems to be similar to the legendary histories of 
the Hindus concerning their seven Rishis, and the seven he- 
roes of the Druids mentioned by Taliesin, besides other ana- 
logous traditions, which Faber (Orig. Pag. Idol. iii. 167,) 
considers, with every appearance of truth, to have relation 
to the family of Noah escaping from the deluge. But an 
investigation of this subject though curious and interesting, 
would lead us too far from the proper discussions of this es- 
say, and we therefore only deem it necessary to call the at- 
tention of the inquisitive reader to these facts, which are 
well worthy of consideration. 

But from these very remote times, evidently connected 
with the original history of mankind, we have no other cir- 
cumstance of Mexican tradition that seems to connect them 
with the eastern continent, and their particular history pre- 
sents a vast hiatus, extending from the early postdiluvian 
ages until a few centuries preceding the arrival of the Spa- 



264 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



niards. They are then represented as having emigrated to 
the land of Mexico, from some region or country to the 
north; which will now be the subject of our particular in- 
vestigation. 

It will be seen on referring to page 175, where we have 
given a brief account of the various nations inhabiting Ana- 
huac, that though the origin of the Olmecs, Xicalancas, &c, 
is entirely unknown, yet tradition has preserved a distinct 
remembrance of the emigration of the Toltecks, and some 
other tribes, to the kingdom of Mexico. 

When we consider the degree of civilization possessed by 
the Toltecks and Mexicans, and the singularity of their in- 
stitutions, it becomes a most interesting subject to ascertain 
from what country they emigrated; more especially, as 
most writers have considered them to have been Asiatic 
tribes, who had just previously found their way into Ame- 
rica, and were now descending towards the more southern 
parts of the continent. 

It will require, however, but little examination to prove, 
that this supposed emigration from Asia, is but a hasty con- 
jecture entirely unsupported even by plausible facts. These 
various tribes of Toltecks, Chechimecas, Acolhuas, and Na- 
huatlacks, consisting of some thousands of individuals, spoke 
the same language, (Clavig. His. Mex. i. 144. Humboldt 
Researches, i. 214,) and as their emigrations took place at 
various periods of time, from A. D. 544 to 1245, it is im- 
possible that they could have been Asiatic strangers just en- 
tering America; for we should be able from the lateness of 
the time, to ascertain either from their language* or history, 
the country and people of Asia from whence they had emi- 
grated. And when we add to this, the entire dissimilarity 
in the minutiae of their religion, astronomy, arts, and social 
institutions, from any nation of Asia, we must be convinced, 
that the emigration related in Toltecan or Mexican tradition, 
refers to one from some part or other of North America 
alone. 

* It is perfectly fair to make this estimate from known facts in the history 
of languages elsewhere. The Arabic, has been spoken nearly four thousand 
years. Mr. Champolion, by his researches upon the Egyptian hieroglyphics, 
has demonstrated that the Coptic was the language used in the most ancient 
inscriptions of that ingenious people. An instance, however, more in point 
with the subject of our text, has been communicated by Eustace. (Class. 
Tour, i 142 ) He informs us upon the authority of Lanzi and MafFei, two 
eminent Italians, that a part of the Cimbri and Teutones who were defeated 
"by Marius, B. C. 100, near Verona, fled to the mountains in the neighbor- 
hood, where their descendants still continue to the number of seven pa- 
rishes. The late king of Denmark visited them, and discoursed with them 
in the Danish language, and found their idiom perfectly intelligible. 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



265 



It is, however, no easy matter to ascertain their original 
countries, for though they respectively call them Aztlan, 
Huehuetlapallan, Amaquamecam, Teoacolhuacan, &c, yet 
these names might not be retained by other tribes, who 
took possession of their deserted lands. At any rate, they 
have hitherto been undetected, and little hope remains of 
our discovering these ancient countries, unless a part of the 
original population remained behind, or that monuments 
bearing their characteristic features, are yet to be discovered, 
which will then determine the ancient seat of their empire. 

The most likely place to seek these ancient countries, is 
in that unexplored part of North America which lies be- 
tween the Columbia river and the Gila of California: for 
upon the banks of the latter river, are yet found those an- 
cient edifices, called by the Spaniards the Casas Grandes, 
of which the reader will see in our note* an imperfect ac- 
count, and which tradition reports, were erected by the 
Mexicans when on their journey to Anahuac. Their first 
station or original country, is supposed to have been upon 
the borders of a lake much further north, known by the 
name of Timpanogos, which is partially sketched in our re- 
cent maps, but I believe without any geographical authority 
though it may be a tolerably correct supposition. 

That the population of this almost unknown country is 
really superior to the ordinary Indian or barbarous nations, 
would be unreasonable to doubt, from the accounts given of 
those Spanish adventurers whom an accursed thirst of gold, 
induced at an early period to invade these regions. 

These accounts, for a long period of time, have been al- 
most entirely disregarded by European historians, as devoid 
of truth and probability. More recently, however, we have 
received some information on the subject, which tends di- 
rectly to confirm the early narratives of the Spaniards con- 
cerning Cibola, perhaps not without some exaggeration, but 
I would presume without gross and wilful misrepresentations. 

* "These ruins occupy a space of ground of more than a square league. 
The Casa Grande, is exactly laid down according to the four cardinal points, 
being from N. to S 445 feet in length, and from E. to W. 276 feet in breadth. 
It is constructed of clay rammed into large moulds, (pises) which are of 
unequal sizes but symmetrically placed. The walls are four feet thick. We 
perceive, that their edifice had three stories and a terrace. The stair was 
on the outside, and was probably of wood. We perceive in the Casa Grande, 
five apartments, each of which is 27 feet in length, 10 in breath, and 1 1 in 
height. A wall, interrupted by large towers, surrounds the principal edifice, 
and appears to have served to defend it. Father Garces discovered the ves- 
tiges of an artificial canal which brought the water of the Rio Gila to the 
town. The whole surrounding plain is covered with broken earthen pitch- 
ers, and pots prettily painted in white, red, and blue." (Humboldt, Pol, Ess. 
li. 205.) 



266 OF THE INSTITUTIONS 

However, before we give a sketch of the state of society 
observed by these early adventurers, we shall prepare our 
way, by the more recent statements given us by Baron Hum- 
boldt, (Polit. Essay, ii. 206, 215,) who derived his informa- 
tion from two Spanish monks who partially explored these 
countries A. D. 1773. "In the country of the Moqui, wa- 
tered by the Rio de Yaquesila, they were astonished to find 
an Indian town with two great squares, houses of several 
stories, streets well laid out, and parallel to one another. Ev- 
ery evening, the people assembled together on the terraces 
of which the roofs of the houses are formed. The construc- 
tion of the edifices of the Moqui, is the same with that of the 
Casas Grandes on the banks of the river Gila. Every thing 
in these countries appears to announce traces of the cultiva- 
tion of the ancient Mexicans. We are informed even by the 
Indian traditions, that twenty leagues north from the Moqui, 
near the mouth of the river Zaguananas, the banks of the 
Nabajoa were the first abode of the Mexicans after their de- 
parture from Aztlan. However, the language spoken by the 
Indians of the Moqui, the Yabipais, who wear long beards, 
and those who inhabit the plains in the vicinity of the Rio 
Colorado, is essentially different from the Mexican language." 

"To the south of the Rio Gila, these missionaries found 
the Indians clothed, and assembled together to the number 
of two or three thousand in villages which they call Uturicut 
and Sutaquisan, where they peaceably cultivate the soil. 
Here they saw fields sown with maize, cotton, gourds," &c. 

With these brief testimonials, as to the present character 
of the natives of this part of America, who our readers can- 
not but perceive are entirely different from those nations we 
have termed barbarous, we shall proceed to give a concise 
view of the observations made in this part of America, at an 
early period after the conquest of Mexico. As they were 
made above two hundred years preceding the statements just 
given from Humboldt, it would not be unreasonable to sup- 
pose, that important changes may have occurred during that 
time, and that their civilization may have retrograded. But 
in truth we know nothing of the present state of the country 
other than from the meagre relation given by Humboldt. 

The first Spanish traveller into these regions, [Herrera, 
Hist. Jlmer. v. 203,) afterwards so famous under the names 
of Cibola, Quivira, &c, was Mark di Niza, a Franciscan monk, 
who by order of the Spanish governor of New Galicia, 
in A. D. 1539, made an exploratory missionary journey to 
some distance, but how far we are unable to ascertain. He 
reported, that there were towns and cities in this country, 



OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



267 



built of stone, the houses of several stories, and flat roofed. 
One town or city called Cibola, seemed to him larger than 
Mexico when viewed from a distance, for he did not venture 
to approach it closely. He also speaks of seven towns or cities, 
pleasantly situated in one kingdom in which the Indians in- 
formed him, there was gold in abundance. He speaks of 
having seen the natives of the country wearing necklaces of 
turquoise stones, and some with such stones passed through 
their noses and ears. These people when they felt the woollen 
garment of the monk, informed him, that similar fabrics were 
made in the town of Tonteac from the fur of some animal, 
which they represented as being of the size of the greyhound 
brought by the friar's companion. The natives in general, 
are described to have been dressed in cotton clothing and cow's 
hides. (Buffalo robes.) 

Friar Mark also says, that he saw one of the natives of Ci- 
bola, who was a white man, of a good complexion and capa- 
city. (Hackluyt, iii. 370.) Some Indians on the coast also 
told Alarchon, that there were white men up the country, 
but that they knew nothing else. {Hack. iii. 429.) 

In consequence of the relation made by friar Mark of the 
industry, population, and gold of the natives of Cibola, the 
rapacious Spaniards immediately marched an army into this 
country, which after some difficulty, reached the places to 
which they had been directed by a cupidity inflamed by the 
friar's narration. But as these villains were disappointed in 
not finding gold, silver, and precious stones, they charged the 
friar with having told great falsehoods, when at most he had 
been guilty only of exaggeration; for it is evident from their 
own relation, that, on the whole, friar Mark's account was 
not incorrect. 

This we may distinctly perceive from the letter which Co- 
ronado wrote to the viceroy Mendoza, A. D. 1540, after he 
had reached Cibola with his army and was disappointed in 
his hope of plunder. {Hackluyt, Voy. iii. 373, &c.) 

"Briefly I can assure your honor, the father (friar Mark) 
said the truth in nothing that he reported, but all was quite 
contrary, save only the names of the cities and great houses 
of stone; for although they be not wrought with turquoise 
stones, nor with lime nor bricks, yet are they very excellent 
good houses, of three, or four, or five stories high, wherein 
are good lodgings and fair chambers, with ladders instead of 
stairs, and certain cellars under the ground, very good, and 
paved, which are made for winter; they are in a manner like 
stoves. 

"'The seven cities, are seven small towns, all built of the 



268 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



kind of houses that I have spoken of, and they stand all with- 
in four leagues together. They are all called the kingdom 
of Cibola, though each town has its particular name, none of 
them being called Cibola, but altogether they are called Ci- 
bola. In the town where I now am, there may be some two 
hundred houses, all compassed with walls, and I think with 
the rest of the houses that are not so walled, they may be al- 
together five hundred. There is another town near this, 
which is one of the seven, which is somewhat larger than this 
town, and another of the same bigness that this is of, and the 
other four are somewhat less." 

From this letter of Coronado's we have besides extracted 
the following particulars. 

The natives wore cotton mantles, and the Spaniards found 
in their houses cotton yarn, and raw cotton, both red and 
white. 

They also obtained turquoise stones, emeralds, garnets, and 
crystals, but only in small quantities. 

They speak of the abundance of maize found in the coun- 
try, which they said the Indian women ground in a superior 
manner to any thing they had seen before, and that one would 
grind as much as four did in Mexico. 

The natives had excellent salt, which they procured from 
a lake about a day's journey distant. 

They observed here the animal known to our Indian tra- 
ders as the Rocky mountain goat, (Capra montana, Harlan,) 
which they call a sheep from the fineness of its wool. 

Coronado sent the viceroy a mantle, which, he says, was 
"excellent well made," and which he describes as if it had been 
embroidered with a needle; he adds, that such a thing had 
not been seen before in America, unless executed by the 
Spaniards. 

They also describe the natives to possess large dogs, which 
were used for purposes of draught, and who would draw a 
load weighing fifty pounds. 

In A. D. 1583, or forty-three years after Coronado's expe- 
dition, a Spaniard named Espejo, made an incursion in these 
countries with a military force. (Hackluyt, iii. 38D, &c.) 
He confirms the preceding statements of Coronado and men- 
tions expressly that he saw "houses built of lime and stone." 

Espejo describes the natives, "as people much given to la- 
bour, and continually occupied," wearing mantles of cotton 
streaked with blue and white, and using towels, ornamented 
with tassels at the corners. 

They lived in large and populous towns, in which were 
oratories or chapels containing idols. Their dwellings are 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE, 



269 



represented as being four stories high, well built, with stoves 
to warm them in the winter season. 

The natives here used a club or stick so beset with sharp 
flints, that they were sufficient to cleave a man asunder. This 
weapon is the Mexican sword, which we have described at 
page 199, and which, I believe, was used no where else in 
America, but among the Tolteck nations. 

It is impossible to guess how far north the Spaniards may- 
have gone. On one occasion they say the latitude observed 
was 37§, but they marched a considerable distance after this 
observation was made. 

The only circumstance that tends to render this narrative 
suspicious, is the great indications of gold and silver which 
they frequently observed in the mountains; which, however, 
may perhaps be correct for aught that we know. But when 
we remember the credulous stories of the first settlers of Ca- 
nada, New England, Virginia, &c. on this subject, we can. 
readily admit, that ignorant and avaricious persons might be 
easily deceived themselves, and mislead others, without a wil- 
ful mendacity. 

T know of no material circumstance, excepting the gold and 
turquoise stones in the foregoing relation, that is not ap- 
parently substantiated by the testimony of the monks quoted 
by Humboldt, and the description given of the Casas Gran- 
des. The woollen garments as they are called, were recent- 
ly observed on the coast; {see page 81,) where white Indians 
are also found. (See page 21.) 

I think it therefore unreasonable, that these ancient ac- 
counts of the demi-civilization of Cibola, should be considered 
unworthy of credit; though it is not improbable that some 
particulars may be exaggerated. Whatever we may think 
of friar Mark, we cannot believe that Coronado made repre- 
sentations contrary to truth; when, though impeaching the 
veracity of the monk in certain matters, he describes a state 
of society existing there, evidently proving a demi-civilized 
country. 

In this unexplored part of America, therefore, I am deci- 
dedly of opinion we must look for those ancient seats of the 
Tolteck nations, which between the years of the 7th and 
12th centuries, they abandoned to seek an establishment in 
the land of Anahuac. Whether a part of the ancient stock 
is yet to be discovered there or not it is impossible to state; 
but when we remember, that this undescribed part of our 
country, is about 800 miles in length, and 700 miles in breadth, 
it is not unreasonable to believe, that a careful examination, 
when practicable, would even yet disclose to us matters con- 
35 



270 



OF THE INSTITUTIONS 



nected with the ancient history of this people, interesting in 
the highest degree. 

At present, we know of but insignificant analogies, in the 
languages spoken on this coast to that of the Mexicans, and 
as far as I have learned, they seem confined to some few in- 
stances of words ending in tl, that have been observed at 
Nootka Sound. {Cook's Voy. N. Hem. ii. 335.) 

At Nootka, however, we are told, (Humboldt, Pol. Es- 
say, ii. 257,) that the natives reckon twenty days to their 
months, which was the Mexican computation; and this seems 
too arbitrary to have been original with these people, who 
are said also to have counted fourteen such months to their 
year, with an intricate system of intercalation whereby 
they adjusted their civil time with apparent solar motion. 

I think, on the whole, this account of the people of Nootka, 
has been misunderstood by the Spaniards, who can hardly 
be supposed to have learned their language sufficiently well 
to have comprehended their communication on this subject. 
That they may have had months of twenty days, we do not 
deny, but that their year consisted of fourteen such months, 
is seemingly incredible; for if they indeed used intercalations 
to correct their time, it is impossible that they could over- 
look the grossness of a system, that gave but two hundred 
and eighty days to the year. If they counted eighteen such 
months to the year, it is really the Mexican computation, 
and this I presume was the case, but which was misunder- 
stood by the Spanish botanist quoted by Humboldt. 

From our preceding discourse, though it seems most rea- 
sonable to look for the ancient country of the Toltecks, 
Acolhuas, Mexicans, &c. in that part of America included 
between the Columbia and Gila rivers, and it seems certain 
that they arrived in Mexico through that hitherto unexplor- 
ed country; yet is not impossible that these nations, or a 
part of them, may have in more remote times crossed the 
Rocky mountains from some part of the western states of 
our Union, where we now find various monuments, attesting 
the residence of some anciently demi-civilized people. 

Though the Natchez, and other demi-civilized people of 
Louisiana, were fully able to construct such monuments, 
yet it is not so easy to believe, that they alone were con- 
cerned in their erection; as these works are spread over a 
very great extent of country, seemingly too great to have 
ever been under the exclusive occupancy of those people, 
whom the Spaniards and French found established in Louisi- 
ana, Georgia, &c. 

The following statement, derived from the account of 



OP THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 



271 



Soto's expedition to Florida, seems at least in a slight de- 
gree, to argue some connexion between the natives of Lou- 
isiana and the Toltecks. When that invader was some- 
where, as I conjecture, about the N. E. part of the province 
of Texas, he came to a district and town called Tula, (Her- 
rera, v. 340,) where he had a very severe conflict with the 
natives, who attacked him shouting Tula. 

Tula, in the history of the Toltecks was the capital of their 
ancient country, and in remembrance of it, they so named 
their capital city in Anahuac. Tula signifies a place of 
reeds, which epithet may be applied to innumerable locali- 
ties; but whether the Tula of the province of Texas had 
this meaning or not we cannot say.* At any rate, we can- 
not consider it to have been the ancient Tula of the Toltecks, 
but it may have been named after it, as was the case with the 
city in Anahuac, by some nation or people directly or indi- 
rectly connected with that anciently demi-civilized people; 
and who carried this word with them wherever they made 
their settlements, as in Mexico, Yucatan, &c. 

We must not forget to state, that there was a nation of 
Louisiana called by the French Chitimachas, who lived in 
the low lands between the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya 
rivers. They had been once a considerable people, though 
they were in a very ruinous condition at the time of the 
French settlement. Du Pratz on several occasions mentions 
them as a branch of the demi-civilized Natchez; and that 
these last considered them brethren. 

The name Chitimachas, seems to be identical with the 
Chechimecas of the Spanish historians, and of whose emi- 
gration to Anahuac we have already given an account in 
page 177. The degree of civilization possessed by them, 
is very analogous to that we have described as pertaining to 
the Natchez and other Floridan nations. 

As a few individuals of the Chitimachas are still living, 
it is to be hoped we may yet ascertain, whether their lan- 
guage bears any features of identity with the languages of 
Mexico. Nuttall (Travels, 241,) says, that Mr. Du Ponceau 
informed him, that the language of the Chitimachas appears 
to be radically distinct from that of other aborigines of the 
southern states. 

* The French translation of Garcilazo's Conquest of Florida, &c. (Vol. ii. 
176,) which says, "cette ville qui est situee dans un pay plat, entre deux 
ruisseaux;" would give us reason to think, there must have been reeds in 
abundance in that neighbourhood. 



CHAPTER VI. 



OF THE NATIONS INHABITING GUATEMALA. 

We are now about to direct our investigation to a region 
whose singular antiquities and history, have forcibly im- 
pressed upon our minds the belief, that the most civilized 
and polished people of America, prior to the Spanish dis- 
covery, were there established, Our information, however, 
concerning this most interesting country is very imperfect, 
and is derived chiefly from detached portions or fragments 
of the Spanish writers, which we are fearful, all our synthe- 
tick skill will be unable to bring together with such cohe- 
rence, as to convey a just idea of the social condition of the 
natives of Guatemala, in those times that preceded the voyage 
of Columbus. 

A pari of the obscurity that covers the ancient history of 
the demi-civilized nations of this kingdom, is to be attri- 
buted to the barbarous fanaticism of the Spanish conquerors, 
and to the apathy and ignorance of their more immediate 
descendants. But unwilling to do even them an injustice, 
we must at least for the present state, that there are several 
historians of the country, whose works may possibly contain 
much information on these subjects, but which all our exer- 
tions have failed to procure. It may therefore seem pre- 
sumptuous in us to write upon these people, when we inform 
the reader, we have never seen the works of Torquemada, 
Sotomayor, Remesel, or Fuentes, and this feeling has made 
us defer to the very last article of this book, the present 
disquisition, when being compelled as it were to make the 
attempt, we have undertaken it with all the disadvantages 
above stated. 

It is true, we have not been altogether discouraged in 
making the present essay, notwithstanding the defect of ma- 
terials, as we have had access to some general histories of 
Guatemala, in which the above named authors are quoted 
both for statements and opinions; which being on the whole 
conformable with our own impressions, induce the hope, 
that we may have the substance of their views and re- 
searches, though without those minutioe of particulars which 
should constitute the basis of our reasoning, and by which 
alone we can be guided in our search after truth. It is a 
very different thing to have the original facts or traditions, 
instead of the deductions from them, often unwise and pre- 



OF THE NATIONS INHABITING GUATEMALA. 273 

posterous; and of which we have so many instances in the 
Spanish American writers, that we rely unwillingly upon 
their inferential statements. 

The few authors to whom we have had access, however, 
are good, and tolerably explicit; as will be seen in the ensu- 
ing pages where we shall quote them freely. The great 
disadvantage under which we labour, is, that not knowing 
what may have been proved by the writers we have not 
read, we are compelled to adopt a certain course to establish 
our views, that may to others better informed, appear both 
tedious and unnecessary. But having stated all our sources 
of embarrassment, we shall proceed without further apology. 

To accomplish our undertaking in the best manner that 
our means afford, we shall in the first place, attempt to give 
a view of the different nations inhabiting Guatemala, with 
such sketches of their traditional history, as may justify 
the belief, that their demi-civilization either arose from some 
source common to them all, or that if of different origins, it 
had become similar throughout the kingdom, in consequence 
of the civil commotions of states dispersing their population 
into adjacent countries, from their mutual invasions of each 
other's territory, or from emigrations from one part of the 
kingdom to the other; all of which causes of confusion, we 
know did take place according to their traditional history. 

As 1 think we shall be able by this method to prove an 
identity of system in their social condition, we shall then 
proceed in a regular manner, to exhibit the state of civiliza- 
tion peculiar to the people of Guatemala, by bringing under 
each proper head, whatever we have been able to collect 
concerning the different nations of the kingdom. In this 
manner we may, perhaps, with some plausibility, infer what 
was the more entire and perfect system, by which they re- 
gulated the political and religious forms of their social com- 
pact. But before we commence this investigation, some 
few prefatory statements are necessarily to be made. 

In our ensuing discourse, we shall consider the kingdom 
of Guatemala as extending from the western frontiers of 
Soconusco, Chiapa, and Tabasco, to the isthmus of Darien. 
In this investigation we also include the province of Yuca- 
tan, which though politically attached to the kingdom of 
Mexico, yet geographically and morally considered, should 
pertain to Guatemala, as is evident from the inspection of 
the map, and from the aboriginal history of the country. 

The kingdom of Guatemala, had never fallen under the 
dominion of the Mexican kings, (Herrera, iv* 188. Juar- 
rm, 200,) though we believe, they had established them- 



274 



OF THE NATIONS 



selves in some places on the northern frontier of Chiapa, and 
partially in some small settlements in the interior of the 
country; yet their political influence cannot be said to have 
been felt in Guatemala. What effect the example of their 
institutions or their religion may have had in this kingdom, 
is more doubtful; as there were certainly many resemblances 
in these particulars to the social state of the Mexicans: but 
as we shall presently show that the Toltecas, so distinguish- 
ed in the ancient history of Mexico, had also established an 
empire in Guatemala, we may explain any circumstances of 
general analogy by that undoubted fact. 

Juarros, {Hist. Guatemala, 198,) enumerates twenty-six 
different languages to be spoken in Guatemala, by which 
we presume, he means tongues or dialects, together with 
such original languages as might be found in the kingdom; 
but he makes no particular remark on this subject. The 
reader, however, will perceive how confused and limited our 
information on this interesting country must be, when he is 
informed, that of these different people there is but one, 
whose history even in a very partial manner, can be sepa- 
rated from the common mass. 

We shall now proceed in our disquisition upon the plan 
we have already laid down in the preceding page; commenc- 
ing with the history of that people concerning whom we 
have the most direct and certain account, and then to de- 
scribe the different provinces of the kingdom in regular suc- 
cession, as far as we have been able to collect any important 
information. 

Juarros, {Hist. Guatemala, 88, 161,) says, "the nation 
of the Quiches or Tultecas, extended their empire over the 
greatest portion of the present kingdom of Guatemala." 
Their traditional history is related by him, upon the autho- 
rity of manuscripts in that country that had been written by 
early descendants of the conquerors, who intermarried with 
the daughters and sisters of the aboriginal chiefs and nobles. 

It is an unfortunate circumstance that the traditions are 
not given in their own words; for the Spanish authors have 
disgraced the very commencement of the relation, with the 
following most absurd and unwarrantable statement. "It 
appears," says Juarros, "that the Tultecas were descended 
from the house of Israel, and were released by Moses from 
the captivity in which Pharaoh held them. Having passed 
the Red sea they resigned themselves to the practice of 
idolatry, and persisted therein in spite of the admonitions 
of Moses. But to avoid his reproofs, or from the fear of 
his inflicting some chastisement, they chose to separate from 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



£75 



him and his brethren, and to retire from that part of the coun- 
try to a place which they called the Seven Caverns ; that is, from 
the borders of the Red sea, to what now is a part of the king- 
dom of Mexico, where they founded the celebrated city of 
Tula." 

In this senseless and extravagant paragraph, which in half 
a dozen lines, connects the Exodus from Egypt, before Christ 
1491, with the settlement of the Toltecas in Anahuac, A. D. 
607, a space of two thousand and ninety-eight years, is over- 
whelmed any traditional account the Toltecas may have real- 
ly given of their history before they came to Mexico. We 
cannot but regret the folly that indulged itself in so ridiculous 
a conclusion, at the expense perhaps of invaluable tradition, 
and the sagacity of antiquarians in possession of their reason 
and understanding. But it is useless to express regret on 
this subject, unless some fortunate accident may have preserved 
these ancient records, in the lumber of some Spanish convent 
in Guatemala, they have most probably perished, and are for 
ever lost to the scientific world. 

From these "Seven Caverns," the Quiches or Tultecas say, 
they marched into Mexico under the command of a king 
named Tanuh, who was their first monarch, and from whom 
were descended the kings of Tula and Quiche. It seems, 
they had resided some time in the kingdom of Mexico, and 
had multiplied greatly, when by the direction of an oracle, 
they left the Tolteck kingdom in Mexico and marched into 
Guatemala under the command of a chief or king called Ni- 
maquiche, who was the fifth in descent from Tanuh. They 
were engaged many years in this emigratory march, and 
finally settled at a short distance from lake Atitan, where 
they built a city which they called Quiche after the name of 
their leader. It is related on the authority of the same man- 
uscripts, that Nimaquiche was accompanied by three bro- 
thers, who divided the country among them in the following 
manner: One had for his share, the province of the Quele- 
nesand Chiapanecos; anotherpossessed Tezulutlanor Verapaz; 
the third became chief of the Mams and Pocomanes; while 
Nimaquiche reigned over the Quiches, Kachiquels, and Zu-* 
tugiles. The son and successor of Nimaquiche was named 
Acxopil, who was at the head of this nation when they set- 
tled in Quiche, and was the first monarch who reigned in 
their capital city of Utatlan. Acxopil having attained a very 
advanced age, divided his empire into three kingdoms; name- 
ly, the Quiche, the Kachiquel, and the Zutugil. The first of 
these he retained to himself, and gave the others to two of 
his sons. At this time, the empire of Acxopil embraced the 



276 



OF THE NATIONS 



present district or provinces of Solola, Chimaltango, Sacate- 
peques, and part of those of Quezaltango and Totonicapan. 
{Juarros, Hist. Guat. 168.) 

From the time of Nimaquiehe to the arrival of Spaniards, 
fifteen monarchs had ruled over the Quiche nation at Utat- 
lan, the last of whom fell in battle, A. D. 1524, by the hand of 
Pedro De Alvarado a chieftain already infamous in the Mex- 
ican conquest, and who now led an army of Spaniards and 
confederate Indians to the subjugation of Guatemala. 

In the preceding tradition, we recognise the account given 
by the Mexicans, that they had proceeded from seven caves: 
and in Tenuch, one of the chieftians who led them to Mex- 
ico, we may discern the king Tanuh of the Toltecks or Qui- 
ches, who is described as conducting the march of the latter 
people to Anahuac. From these circumstances we might 
infer, that the Quiches were rather connected with the Mexi- 
cans than with the Toltecks, of whom we have discoursed in 
p. 175. But as there is every reason to believe, that though the 
Toltecks were superior in civilization to the Mexicans they 
were of the same descent, {Clavig. Hist. Mex. i. 144, note; 
Humboldt, Research. i. 81,) it is most probable, they all had 
the same traditional history in common, though it has not been 
recorded in the accounts we now have of the Toltecks. But 
however this may be, we learn from Juarros, that during the 
most nourishing period of Teltecan history, a part of their 
people under the name of Toltecas or Quiches, left that king- 
dom and emigrated to Guatemala. We may also reasonably 
conclude, when the dissolution of the Toltecan monarchy in 
Anahuac took place, that the Quiches received some of that 
people among them; for it is directly asserted by several 
Spanish writers, that many of that ancient nation removed to 
the country adjacent to lake Nicaragua. 

The identity of the Quiches with nations connected with 
the Toltecks of Anahuac, is however evident from the decla- 
rations of the Mexicans and Tlascalans who assisted the Span- 
iards in the conquest of Guatemala; for according to Juarros, 
{Hist. Guat. 167,) "they declared themselves relations and 
friends, formed intermarriages with the Quiches, and gave 
them a copy of the instrument by which they had received 
honor and privileges from the emperor Charles the 5th, for 
services rendered to the Spaniards during the conquest of 
Mexico. 

The people of Chiapa, to a greater or less degree, it is pro- 
bable were of similar origin with the Quiches. Such at least 
is their tradition, which we think confirmed by the analogy 
existing between their ancient monuments. We prefer this 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



277 



statement of their descent to that given by Remesal, (Juarros, 
Guatemala, 207,) who affirms they came from somewhere 
beyond lake Nicaragua, which is contrary to every analogy; 
for in important particulars they agree with the Toltecan na- 
tions, who certainly came from the north. If there be any 
weight in Remesal's observation, which we have only learn- 
ed, however, at second hand, I should presume it can only re- 
fer to some partial removal of their population from one 
place to another in the same country. 

Clavigero (Hist. Mexico, i. 141,) relates, that the Chia- 
penese reported, they had come to their country from the 
north, and that when they arrived at Soconusco a separation 
of their people took place, some going to inhabit the country 
of Nicaragua, while another portion remained in Chiapa. 

The Quiche traditions state, that both the Quelenes and 
Chiapenese, are descendants of those persons who followed a 
brother of king Nimaquiche from Tula in Anahuac. 

The Chiapenese appear to have held some traditions very 
similar to the one we have related of Xelhua, among the 
Cholulans, (page 234,) and which is thus summed up by Nu- 
nez de la Vega. {Juarros Gnat. 208.) The Chiapenese re- 
late, that they had been conducted to their country by twenty 
chiefs, the principal one of whom was called Votan, who, ac- 
cording to their tradition, saw the great wall which men at- 
tempted to build up to the sky; and that at this place, to 
every people a different language was given. But as this re- 
lation is the substance of De la Vega's inference from their 
tradition, we will not venture to comment on it, further than 
to remark its apparent conformity with the tradition of the 
Cholulans already quoted, and which Humboldt [Res. i. 320,) 
also justifies by his quotation from De la Vega. 

The next province in order is that of Yucatan, which, ac- 
cording to Juarros, (Hist. Guat. 287,) was known to the 
aborigines by the name of Maya, the appellation of the most 
considerable nation inhabiting the peninsula. Whether their 
language be radically distinct from that spoken by the Qui- 
ches we have no means of ascertaining; but Juarros has enu- 
merated it as a distinct tongue in the catalogue of languages 
spoken in Guatemala. I do not however place much reliance 
upon his classification, unless the languages he mentions are 
to be considered as dialects of some one or more original 
languages spoken in the kingdom; on this point, however, he 
has said nothing to justify any supposition whatever. But 
though the language of the Mayas may be original or not, I 
apprehend their civilization, as manifested by their architec- 
ture, science, and religion, indicates an origin from sources 
36 



278 



OJb' THE NATIONS 



common to them, the Quiches and other demi-civilized peo- 
ple of Guatemala. 

All that we have been able to learn of the traditional his- 
tory of this province, may be seen in Herrera, (Hist. Jimer. 
iv. 161, &c.) who says, some of the natives informed the first 
Spaniards who invaded their country, that "they had been 
told by their forefathers that their country had been inhabit- 
ed by people that came from the eastward, whom God had 
delivered from others, opening them a w 7 ay through the sea." 

Concerning this people we have no other particulars sta- 
ted; or whether they constituted the basis of the popula- 
tion of the country. It is most probable, however, that the 
people of Yucatan came from the westward; for Herrera im- 
mediately proceeds with the following statement: "At Chi- 
cheniza old men said, that formerly three brothers reigned 
there, who came thither from the westward, gathered a great 
multitude, and ruled some years peaceably and justly, and 
that they built large and fine structures. " After a time, these 
brothers became odious from their vices and tyranny to the 
people, who killed them and then dispersed themselves, 
abandoning all the structures they had erected, &c. 

Herrera continues to relate, that "those who inhabited 
Chicheniza are called Yzaes, among whom a great lord called 
Cuculcan is said to have reigned, and all agree that he came 
from the westward; but there is a difference between them 
whether he came before or after, or with the Yzaes. But 
the name of the structure of Chicheniza, and the events of 
that country after the death of the lords, shew that Cuculcan 
governed together with them. He was a man of a good dis- 
position, not known to have had wife or children, a notable 
republican, (statesman) and therefore looked upon as a god, 
he having contrived to build another city in which business 
might be managed. To this purpose they pitched upon a 
spot eight leagues from the place where Merida now stands, 
and fifteen from the sea, where they made an enclosure of 
about half a quarter of a league, being a wall of dry stone, 
with only two gates. They built temples, calling the gieat- 
est of them Cuculcan. Near the enclosure were the houses 
of the prime men, among whom Cuculcan divided the land, 
appointing each of them towns." 

"This city was called Mayapan, (the standard of Maya,) 
the Maya being the language of the country. Cuculcan gov- 
erned the province in peace and quietness and with great 
justness for some years, when having provided for his depar- 
ture, and recommended to them the good form of government 
which had been established, he returned to Mexico the same 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



279 



way he came, making some stay at Chanpoton, (N. lat. 19° 
30',) where as a memorial of his journey, he erected a struc- 
ture in the sea, which is to be seen at this day." 

The lords of Yucatan, thinking it would be better to vest 
the civil government in the hands of one person, conferred 
the dignity on the family of the Cocomes, who appear to 
have been princes of considerable power: for they are said 
to have possessed "twenty-two good towns." They en- 
larged the city, which seems to have been under the regula- 
tion of a good police; for taxes or tributes were raised in 
kind among the people, and provision was made for the sup- 
port of the maimed, aged, blind, &c. 

"They had a high priest for the service of their gods, 
who was succeeded by his sons. He had the direction of 
religious affairs, gave advice to the lords, answered questions 
proposed to him, provided priests for all the towns, whose 
business it was to teach their sciences, and compose such 
books as they had." 

"Whilst the Cocomes lived in this regular manner, there 
came from the southward great numbers of people, looked 
upon for certain to have been of the province of Chiapa, 
who travelled forty years about the deserts of Yucatan, and 
at length arrived at the mountains that are almost opposite 
to the city of Mayapan, where they settled and raised good 
structures. The people of Mayapan some years after, liking 
their way of living, sent to invite them to build houses for 
their lords in their city. The Tutuxius, (so these strangers 
were called,) accepted their courtesy, came into the city and 
built their houses, and their people spread about the country, 
submitting themselves to the laws and customs of Maya- 
pan." &c. 

While they lived in this quiet and peaceable manner, the 
lord of Mayapan of the race of Cocomes, with the assistance 
of forces procured from the Mexicans at Tabasco and Xica- 
lango, began to oppress and tyrannize over his people. His 
successor still continuing the same course, and constantly 
introducing Mexican soldiers into the country, at last be- 
came so oppressive, that the people with the assistance of the 
Tutuxius, rose on their governor, assaulted his house, and 
slew him and all his sons, excepting one who happened to be 
absent. They then abandoned the city of Mayapan, an event 
which took place about five hundred years after its founda- 
tion, and about seventy years before the arrival of the 
Spaniards. 

Herrera says, "each of the lords who left Mayapan, en- 
deavoured to carry home as many of that sort of books they 



280 



OF THE NATIONS 



then had as he could, for the instruction of their people, 
and there they built temples, which was the occasion that so 
many structures were found in the province." 

It is not deemed necessary to continue the local history of 
this country to a later period. Herrera mentions the rise of 
the Tutuxius to great importance, the partial revival of the 
Cocomes, &c, but these matters do not concern our present 
investigation. 

In the preceding historical traditions, we perceive that the 
great bulk of the population of Yucatan, came from the 
westward, which as a general expression, may mean either 
Mexico, Chiapa, or Guatemala proper. As to the earliest 
tradition, which ascribes a part of the population to strangers 
from the east, I should presume, it either applies to some ac- 
cidental arrival of persons from some of the West India isl- 
ands, or else the story arose from some perverted tradition 
which the Spaniards have not fairly understood. We shall, 
however, presently take notice of this tradition in connexion 
with certain facts that may, in the opinion of some persons, 
make it of more importance than we can at present admit. 

If we can allow of any accuracy in the chronological events 
of the traditions above related, it would appear that the 
building of the city of Mayapan, and the foundation of the 
government of the Cocomes, took place about 570 years be- 
fore the arrival of the Spaniards in Yucatan. (A. D. 1527.) 
This will bring; the time to about 70 years before the epoch, 
when the Tolteck government in Mexico, became dissolved 
from the causes we have enumerated in page 176; and it is 
not improbable, that the remainder of that nation, emigrating 
towards the east, reached Chiapa, and spread themselves in 
Yucatan, Honduras, Nicaragua, &c. The history of Cucul- 
can expressly declares, that a connexion existed between 
some of the ancient demi-civilized people of Anahuac, and 
the people of his government in Yucatan, but it is too ob- 
scure to venture an opinion as to what particular people 
might be meant in the tradition. 

Concerning the origin of the natives of Honduras, the 
Spanish writers accessible to my research, mention no tradi- 
tion. We may, however, from the brief account we possess 
of their institutions and religion, as well as from their juxta- 
position to the Quiches and Nicaraguans, pretty safely infer 
them to have been either of similar descent, or at least, that 
their civilization proceeded from the same common source. 

Those particulars of their institutions, religion, &c. that 
may be deemed worthy of notice, we shall mention inciden- 
tally, in the general history of the kingdom of Guatemala. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



281 



The people of the province of Nicaragua, (Herrera, iii. 
300, 340,) said, "they were descended from the Mexicans, 
and their language and habits were much the same with 
those people." 

This tradition we consider substantially correct, but not 
in all particulars. The Mexicans here spoken of, are not to 
be considered as the Aztecks or Mexicans proper, but as per- 
sons from the kingdom of Mexico, who in all probability 
were Toltecks or a kindred people. The tradition of the 
Chiapenese, considered them the same people with them- 
selves. 

Of the identity of the Nicaraguans with the Toltecks and 
Quiches, we shall presently give plausible evidence, when 
we discourse in a general manner concerning the institutions 
of the Guatemalan nations. 

To make our account of the different nations of Guatemala 
as complete as our means afford, we must observe, that the 
Mexicans, properly so called, whose kingdom adjoined Gua- 
temala, had not only made some partial settlements in this 
country along the frontiers, but had also intruded themselves 
into the interior provinces, where they lived with greater or 
less communication with the more ancient or original nations 
of the country. We have already mentioned, that the mo- 
narch of the Cocomes in Yucatan, had introduced Mexican 
soldiers into that peninsula to enable him to oppress his own 
subjects. After the revolution that ensued, as we have al- 
ready mentioned, the Mexicans were permitted by the in- 
surgent chiefs and Tutuxius to remain in the province. 
{Herrera, iv. 166.) They settled in the district of Canul, 
a little to the westward of Cape Catoche, where they con- 
tinued until the arrival of the Spaniards. 

Juarros, {Hist. Guat. 224,) says, that the Pipiles, who 
were found on the coasts of the Pacific ocean in the provin- 
ces of Zonzonate, St. Salvador, and St. Miguel, were also 
of Mexican origin; but the account he has given of them 
seems so improbable, that we rather consider them to have 
been like other people of Guatemala, descendants of the Tol- 
tecks or other kindred tribes. The relation of Juarros, 
however, is to be found in the note to this page,* by which 

* "Autzol, the eighth king of Mexico, having been repulsed in his attempts 
to subdue the powerful nations of the Quiches, Kachiquels, Mams, Tzen- 
dals, Quelenes, and Sapotecas by force, endeavoured to accomplish his ob- 
ject by stratagem. The commencement of his plan was to send a great 
number of Indians under the direction of a chief and four subordinate offi- 
cers, who were directed to introduce themselves by degrees into the country 
under the disguise of merchants; and settle where they could along the 
coast of the Pacific ocean. By this contrivance, he expected to have a 



OF THE STATIONS 



the reader can judge of the probability of our conjecture 
concerning their history. 

Of any other people of Guatemala than those already men- 
tioned, we have no accounts, most probably they were but 
barbarian in their manners and institutions; though from 
living more or less connected with the demi-civilized nations 
of the country, they may have been influenced to a certain 
degree, to imitate them in the more obvious particulars of 
comfortable living. Such, perhaps, were the kings of Acla 
and Comagre on the Isthmus of Darien, whose social condi- 
tion made a certain impression on the minds of the Span- 
iards, who first visited Tierra Firma. The few particulars 
we possess concerning these chieftains will be annexed to 
the end of this chapter. 

Having now completed our sketch of the more celebrated 
nations inhabiting Guatemala, with such apparent probabili- 
ties of their having been constituted and governed upon 
principles and practices common to the whole, we shall now 
proceed to exhibit under different heads, all that seems wor- 
thy of record concerning their social condition, as far as our 
limited means have afforded the opportunity of compilation. 

Of the Forms of Government, Laws, fyc, of the People 
of Guatemala. 

Though we have every reason to believe, that the general 
form of government among the natives of Guatemala was 
essentially monarchical, yet we must take notice of two 
anomalies in the general system, but of which we are unable 
to communicate any particular information. 

Clavigero (Hist Mexico, i. 141,) says, "the Chiapenese 
were not governed by kings, but by two military chiefs 
elected by the priests. " 

In the district of Acalan in the province of Honduras, 
Herrera says, (Hist. Amer. iii. 360,) it was the custom "to 
choose the wealthiest merchant for their lord, and such was 
Apoxpalan, who drove a great trade, &c." 

Excepting the above instances, I have met with no other 

strong party ready to assist him, whenever he found it convenient to make 
an irruption into the country His death, however, put an end to his de- 
signs almost at their very beginning. The Indians who had thus obtained a 
footing were Mexicans of the very lowest caste, speaking a corrupt dialect 
of the Mexican with a childish pronunciation: this circumstance gave rise 
to their name of Pipiles, a word in the Mexican language signifying children. 
In a short time, these Pipiles multiplied immensely, and spread over the 
provinces of Zonzonate. St. Salvador, and St. Miguel; a fact proved by the 
great number of villages in these districts to which the Pipil language is 
vernacular." 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



283 



relation but such as induce a belief, that the country was di- 
vided among a number of petty chieftains, each king over 
his own town or village, and owing fealty and submission to 
a lord paramount, whom we may call the monarch or king 
of 'he country. But how these matters were regulated we 
know not, unless it may be inferred from the history of the 
Quiches as related by Juarros. 

The government of the Quiches, according to Juarros, 
[Hist. Guat. 187,) was monarchical and hereditary, after a 
manner recognized among many aboriginal people of Ame- 
rica. Thus ; if the eldest son of the reigning king succeeded 
his father in the throne, the second son was called the elect, 
as being the next heir to his brother. The son of the eldest 
son, received the title ot captain senior, and the son of the 
second son, was styled captain junior, according to the Spa- 
nish translation of the Indian words. When the king died, 
the elect (second son) succeeded him, and the captain se- 
nior, became the elect, and the "captain junior," became 
"captain senior." But if any one of these four personages 
was found incapable of governing, he remained in his indi- 
vidual rank during life, and the next nearest relation was 
raised to the superior dignity. 

The supreme council of the monarch of Quiche was com- 
posed of twenty-four grandees, with whom the king delibe- 
rated on all political and military affairs. These counsellors 
were invested with great dignities and privileges, but were 
severely punished if they committed any crime. The ad- 
ministration of justice and collection of the public revenues 
were under their charge. 

Whenever the king went abroad, he was carried in his 
chair of state on the shoulders of his counsellors. 

The monarch or king of the Quiches, was liable to be 
tried for his political conduct, and if convicted of extreme 
cruelty and tyranny was deposed by the ahaguaes,* who 
for this purpose assembled a council with great secrecy; the 
next in succession according to law, was placed on the 
throne, and his ejected predecessor punished by confiscation 
of property and death. 

To the offices of lieutenants and counsellors, and even to 
door-keepers of the council chamber, none but those of no- 
ble birth were admitted; and there was no instance of any 
person being appointed to any public office, who was not se- 
lected from the nobility. Hence to keep the purity of their 

* Juarros does not translate this word, nor does he inform us who they 
were that bore the title; most probably, however, the "counsellors" are 
meant. 



2 84 



OF THE NATIONS 



lineage unsullied, it was decreed by law, that if any cacique 
or noble should marry a woman not of noble family, he 
should be degraded to the caste of plebeian, and his estates 
were sequestrated to the king, leaving him only a sufficient 
maintenance as a plebeian. 

The Quiche kings lived in great state and dignity at their 
capital city of Utatlan, (near Santa Cruz, in Solola.) We 
shall not describe that city, as we have selected Del Rio's 
description of a deserted city near Palenque iu Chiapa, to 
illustrate the subject of the architecture of the nations inha- 
biting Guatemala, and which will be presently laid before 
the reader. But to convey a correct idea of the court and 
palace of the Quiche kings, we shall extract from Juarros, 
(Hist. Guat. 87,) that part of his description of Utatlan 
that relates to this particular subject. 

"The palace of the kings of Quiche, in the opinion of 
Torquemada, could compete in opulence with that of Mon- 
tezuma in Mexico, or that of the Incas at Cuzco in Peru. 
The front of this building extended from east to west 376 
geometrical paces, and in depth 72S: it was constructed of 
hewn stone of different colours, its form was elegant and al- 
together most magnificent. There were six principal divi- 
sions; the first contained lodgings for a numerous troop of 
lancers, archers, and other well disciplined troops, consti- 
tuting the royal body guard. The second was destined to 
the accommodation of the princes and relations of the king, 
who dwelt in it and were served with regal splendor as long 
as they remained unmarried. The third, was appropriated 
to the use of the king, and contained distinct suites of apart- 
ments for the mornings, evenings, and nights. In one of 
the saloons, stood the throne, under four canopies of plu- 
mage: the ascent to it was by several steps. In this first 
part of the palace were the treasury, the tribunals of the 
judges, the armory, the gardens, aviaries, and menageries, 
with all the requisite offices appending to each department. 
The fourth and fifth divisions, were occupied by the queens 
and royal concubines; they were necessarily of great extent, 
from the immense number of apartments requisite to the ac- 
commodation of so many females, who were all maintained 
in a style of sumptuous magnificence. Contiguous to this 
division, was the sixth and last; this was the residence of 
the king's daughters, and other females of the blood royal, 
where they were educated and attended in a manner suitable 
to their rank." 

Connected with this establishment, were gardens, baths, 
&c, and "places for breeding geese, that were kept for the 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



285 



sole purpose of furnishing feathers, with which hangings, 
coverings, and other similar ornamental articles were made." 

As it has been generally a habit, to consider the seemingly 
magnificent descriptions of the early writers on American 
aboriginal institutions as romantic exaggerations, we appre- 
hend it is possible, that such a sentiment may arise at the 
present moment, in the bosom of the reader after perusing 
the above description. Though we will not contend that 
there is not more or less exaggeration in the relation ex- 
tracted from Juarros, we must request the reader to suspend 
his opinion on the subject, until we have been able in the en- 
suing pages, to introduce other matters pertaining to the ci- 
vilization of the natives of Guatemala, which will impart 
great appearance of verisimilitude to the preceding descrip- 
tion. 

We may judge of the general character of the laws by 
which the Quiche monarchy was governed, from the follow- 
ing extracts taken from Juarros, {Hist. Guat. 191,) who has 
partially exhibited some of the moral principles of their le- 
gal system. 

Whoever was guilty of crimes against the king, or against 
the state, or was convicted of homicide, was punished by 
death, the sequestration of his effects, and slavery of his re- 
lations. 

The stealing of things sacred, the profanation of the tem- 
ples, and contumacy to the priests or ministers of the idols, 
subjected the offender to capital punishment, and all his fa- 
mily were declared infamous. 

Ordinary robberies were punished by making the culprit 
pay the value of the things stolen, and a fine in addition. 
For the second offence, the fine was doubled; and for the 
third, they were punished with death, unless some nobleman 
would redeem them; but if they transgressed a fourth time, 
they were inevitably put to death by throwing them from a 
rock. 

Incendiaries were deemed enemies of their country, be- 
cause it was said that fire has no bounds, and by setting fire 
to one house a whole town might be destroyed. Death 
therefore was the punishment inflicted upon the perpetrator, 
and his family were banished from the kingdom. 

Rape was punished by death. Adultery in a queen, was 
punished by strangling the parties if the man was of noble 
blood; but if he was a commoner, they were both thrown 
from off a very high rock. 

Adultery among ordinary individuals, appears to have 
been punished pretty much according to the discretion of 
37 



286 



OF THE NATIONS 



the injured husband and his friends; sometimes they inflict- 
ed death, and at other times a very severe cudgelling on the 
offending party. 

Juarros informs us, that when a criminal was brought be- 
fore the judge, if he confessed the crime with which he was 
charged, he immediately underwent the punishment awarded 
by the laws: but if he denied the charge he was tortured, 
by being stripped naked, suspended by the thumbs, and in 
that situation severely flogged, and exposed to the smoke 
arising from burning cayenne peppers. 

From these extracts we may perceive, that the Quiche 
laws were severe in their penalties. On the whole, howe- 
ver, the moral reasoning was just and appropriate to a de- 
mi- civilized people, who can be only restrained by laws 
which appear cruel to persons of European origin. Their 
mode of examining criminals, reminds us of the similar 
practice of "father's land," where with all their boasted re- 
finements and the influence of Christianity besides, like 
these poor heathens, they attempted to extort the confession 
of guilt when direct proof was wanting. 

With the Quiches, I presume, few or no cases were 
brought before the judge, that were of that doubtful cha- 
racter which the experience of civilized life, has ascertained 
to be so dangerous to individuals upon our ideas of presump- 
tive evidence, and hence, much less injustice was clone in 
this procedure of the Quiche courts, than might be at first 
apprehended. 

Of matters relating to the Wars of the people of Guate- 
mala. 

We have every reason to infer, that the demi-civilized peo- 
ple of Guatemala arrayed their troops in good order for fight- 
ing, and that there existed a considerable degree of discipline 
and subordination among their soldiers. (Bernal Dias, 328, 
352.) Herrera (Hist, turner, iv. 16,) says, that in Yucatan 
the Indian armies were drawn up with two wings and a cen- 
tre, where the lord or general and the high priest were posted. 

Though their musical instruments were also used in the 
ceremonies of their religion, and on convivial occasions, yet 
they more properly belong to their military institutions. 
They are thus enumerated, (Herrera, iv. 170,) "they have 
small kettle drums, and a large one that has a hoarse sound, 
long slender trumpets made of hollow sticks and at the end 
of them long crooked gourds, whistles made of deer's bones, 
large cornets, pipes made of canes, and another instrument of 
melancholy sound, made of the whole shell of a tortoise, 
all the flesh being taken out." 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



287 



The weapons employed by the Quiches appear to have 
been very similar to those used by the Mexicans, as we may 
infer from the incidental notice of such matters by Juarros 
and other writers. 

They used the wooden sword or club serrated with sharp 
flints, lances, arrows and slings. Bernal Dias (Cong, of Mex. 
360, 368,) says, their archers were uncommonly good, and 
that their slingers annoyed the Spaniards greatly. 

Juarros (page 232,) and Herrera {Hist. Jimer. iii. 336, 
3 37,) state, that the Indians near the city of old Guatemala, 
poisoned their weapons on a certain occasion, but I presume 
this charge to be incorrect, as Bernal Dias does not make 
mention of the fact, which that bragging Spaniard would 
hardly have overlooked. 

They used targets made of wood, or of the hide of the ta- 
pir, and sometimes for this purpose, they employed the whole 
shell of the large sea turtle found on their coasts. 

They also used as defensive armour, very thick cotton 
dresses, which Herrera says, {Hist. Jimer. iii. 337,) "were 
so heavy that the wearers could not run away, nor rise when 
fallen, being like sacks, with sleeves made of cotton hard 
twisted three ringers thick." 

Grijalva, on the coast of Tabasco, {Herrera, Hist. ii. 127,) 
was presented by an Indian chief with an armour made of wood, 
covered with plates of gold, a head piece of the same mate- 
rials, &c. But though we mention the fact in this place, I 
rather think this armour was of Mexican manufacture, as 
I have met with nothing similar among the Guatemalans. 

Fortifications, or military defensive works, were erected 
in considerable numbers throughout Guatemala, as may be 
seen in every history of that kingdom. Without taking no- 
tice of them according to their various localities, we shall 
alone extract from Juarros, {Hist. Guat. 462,) the descrip- 
tion of one of the most celebrated fortresses of the country, 
which was situated to the east of Gueguetenango, near the 
river Socoleo, from which it derives its name. 

"The approach as usual to such places, was by only one 
entrance, and that so narrow as scarcely to permit a horse- 
man to pass it. From the entrance there ran on the right 
hand a parapet, raised on the berm of the fosse, extending 
along nearly the whole of that side; several vestiges of the 
counterscarp and curtain of the walls still remain, besides 
parts of other works, the use of which cannot now be easily 
discovered. In a court yard there stood some large columns, 
upon the capitals of which were placed quantities of pine 
wood, that being set on fire gave light at night to the sur- 



288 



OP THE NATIONS 



rounding neighbourhood. The citadel or lofty cavalier of 
this great fortification was in the form of a square graduated 
pyramid, rising twelve or fourteen yards from the base to the 
platform on the top, which was sufficient to admit of ten 
soldiers standing on each side; the next step would accommo- 
date a greater number, and the dimensions proportionably in- 
creased to the lowest or twenty-eighth step. The steps 
were intersected in unequal portions by parapets and curtains, 
rendering the ascent to the top so extremely difficult, that 
Fuentes says, he attempted several times to reach the plat- 
form, but was unable to perform the task until his Indian in- 
terpreter acted as his guide and conducted him to the sum- 
mit. The ruins of several buildings were then in existence; 
they appeared to have been intended as quarters for the sol- 
diers, were extremely well arranged, and distributed with due 
regard to proportion; between each three or four of these 
buildings there was a square court yard, paved with slabs, 
made of stiff clay, lime and sand. Every part of the fortress 
was constructed of hewn stone in pieces of great size; one of 
which being displaced measured three yards in length by one 
in breadth," &c. 

Of the state of Society, Agriculture, Arts, fyc. of the 
people of Guatemala. 

It would seem from the Spanish writers, that the natives 
of Guatemala lived for the most part upon maize and other 
vegetable substances; a circumstance easily explained by the 
fact, that they domesticated no animals for purposes of food,* 
and being employed either in the cultivation of their grounds, 
in war, or other national services, they could only occasion- 
ally procure animal food by hunting or fishing. Juarros does 
not enumerate the plants or roots cultivated by the Quiches. 
Herrera [Hist. Amer. iv. 132, &c.) says, that in Honduras 
the natives cultivated maize, sweet potatoes, beans, peppers, 
(capsicum) gourds or pumpkins. The yucca or mandioc root 
is mentioned by him incidentally, but I have met with no 
account of the cassava bread having been used by them prior 
to the Spanish conquest. 

Juarros remarks the Quiches were intemperate in their 
habits, and that they made ten different kinds of drink from 
maize. In Yucatan, Herrera {Hist. Amer. iv. 134, 170,) 

* Bernal Dias, 415, says, he had observed that partridges were frequently 
domesticated among the Indians of Guatemala, but whether for food or as 
pets, he does not say. I presume the latter, for if they had reared animals 
for eating, they might have procured them of much larger size and equally 
manageable. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



289 



relates, that the natives intoxicated themselves with a liquor 
made of honey and water; and in Honduras they accomplish- 
ed that purpose by infusions of certain roots and fruits in 
water, which were then submitted to fermentation. 

Though Juarros does not mention the use of tobacco among 
the Quiches, yet we presume it was used by them in smok- 
ing; for Herrera and other writers takes notice of that prac- 
tice in various other parts of the kingdom. 

At Darien, this plant was smoked after a fashion we have 
not observed elsewhere. An attendant having lighted a very 
large cigar, put the burning end into his mouth and blew the 
smoke through the cigar into the mouths of all the company 
in regular succession. It is doubtful, however, whether this 
people were any ways connected with the demi-civilized por- 
tion of Guatemala. 

Among the Quiches, when a man wished to marry, (a 
commoner I presume,) he was obliged to serve the parents of 
his intended wife for a certain period of time, and also to 
make them stipulated presents. If they should afterwards 
reject his suit, they were compelled to serve him an equal 
number of days, and restore the presents they had received. 

Juarros seems to say, that the Quiche mothers were very 
careful of the chastity of their unmarried daughters; but if 
this really was the case with them, which we are inclined to 
doubt, it was not the general custom of the country. In Ni- 
caragua, Herrera, iii. 298, says, the women were generally 
"naughty before marriage, and good after." Concubinage 
was permitted throughout Guatemala, but in Nicaragua at 
least, a man could have but one woman as his "lawful wife," 
and he who committed bigamy, was formally banished; an 
instance of keeping "the promise to the ear, and breaking it 
the sense," by no means extraordinary, even among our- 
selves or European nations. 

There was nothing peculiar in the celebration of their nup- 
tials that deserves notice, except the fact, that the parties 
were obliged previously to confess their sins in private to a 
priest, which practice appears from various passages in Her- 
rera, to have been common among the nations of Guatemala 
on various important occasions. A not unwise law of the Ni- 
caraguans, {Herrera^ iii. 300,) allowed the priests who heard 
confessions to marry, a privilege not extended to the other 
ministers of their idolatrous worship. 

Divorces constantly took place among these different na- 
tions, and as far as I have been able to discover, without any 
reference to the constituted authorities of the kingdom. 

In the education of children the Quiches appear to have 



290 



OF THE NATIONS 



excelled all other demi-civilized people of America, if we can 
rely upon the account of Torquemada, (Juarros, 195,) who 
says, "they had schools in all their principal towns both for 
boys and girls, who were under the superintendence of el- 
derly experienced persons/' Juarros (Hist. Guat. 87,) 
when describing the city of Utatlan, relates, "that the most 
superb of all the public edifices, was a seminary where be- 
tween five and six thousand children were educated." We 
cannot but suspect these numbers to be greatly exaggerated, 
yet if the fact be true, that they had public schools, "sup- 
ported by the royal treasury," it must establish the claim of 
the Quiches to more than an ordinary degree of demi-civil- 
ization. 

I consider the relation, on the whole, plausible, as we shall 
be able to shew with some certainty, that the nations of 
Guatemala had improved their hieroglyphic system into one 
seemingly analogous to the character-writing of the Chinese; 
and hence an evident reason would be seen why pains should 
be taken to instruct their children in this artificial system. 
We must, however, defer speaking on this subject, until a 
more suitable occasion is offered in our ensuing investiga- 
tions. 

The Quiche nobility dressed themselves in cotton garments, 
dyed or stained with different colours. The common peo- 
ple, who were prohibited the use of cotton clothing, made 
use of grass and fibrous barks, which they spun and wove in- 
to pieces of the necessary size and shape. These last also 
used for clothing a certain kind of bark, which on being sim- 
ply soaked in water for several days and then well beaten, 
resembled shammy leather of a brown colour. 

The dress of the nobles, for the most part, consisted of a 
cotton shirt with sleeves, which were looped above the el- 
bow with a blue or red band. They also wore a kind of 
half drawers, and over them another pair, which Juarros calls 
breeches, which reached to the knees, where they were or- 
namented with a species of embroidery, (fringes?) Their 
legs were bare, and the feet were protected by sandals fast- 
ened over the instep and heel by thongs of leather. The 
hair was worn long, and tressed behind with a cord of the 
same colour as that used upon the sleeves, and terminating 
in a tassel if the wearer was a man of distinction. The 
waist was girded by a piece of coloured cloth. Over the 
shoulders was thrown a white mantle, ornamented with the 
figures of birds, lions, (the cougouar) and other decorations 
of cords and fringes. 

The dress of the poorer classes was suited to the nature 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



291 



of the climate. Some of them wore a shirt, which was 
drawn between the legs and fastened to a piece of cloth tied 
round the middle; and on proper occasions they no doubt 
used a coarse mantle. In the warmer districts of the country, 
they only used the breech-cloth, being otherwise entirely 
naked. 

It appears from Juarros, that the better class of females 
among the Quiches, "wore a species of petticoat, that de- 
scends from the middle of the body to the ankles, and a robe 
over the shoulders reaching to the knees, which was worked 
with thread of different colours." 

In Yucatan, the female natives "wore a garment like a 
sack, open on both sides up to their hips;" which we may 
presume was, with certain variations of no importance, the 
general fashion of the poorer class of females throughout 
Guatemala. 

The Quiches pierced their ears and lower lips, through 
which they passed various ornaments of gold, silver, &c. 
The hair of the head was permitted to grow long, but they 
wore it queued up or tied into several tresses. 

The Nicaraguans shaved the fore part of their heads, and 
those eminent in war removed all their hair but that which 
grew on the crown of the head, which was no doubt dressed 
in various fashions. 

The natives of Yucatan, (Herrera, iv. 169,) flattened their 
"heads and foreheads" by artificial compression; and it would 
seem, that the women at least, used to "saw their teeth," and 
puncture their bodies. 

We now proceed to describe as well as we are able, the 
various arts and manufactures of the people of Guatemala; but 
concerning which we cannot but regret, our information is 
but too often derived from the accidental statements of the 
Spanish writers, and not from any particular description of 
them. 

We have already stated in our account of the dress of these 
people, that they spun and wove cotton and the fibrous barks 
of certain plants into suitable garments. We are ignorant 
by what methods they accomplished these manufactures, but 
presume it was by means of those contrivances that were 
used by the Mexicans. At any rate, they exercised these 
arts with great dexterity, for Herrera, {Hist. Jimer. iv. 
143,) says, the women among the Nicaraguans "spin as fine 
as a hair." 

We have already mentioned in our account of the palace 
of Utatlan, that the Quiches from the feathers of birds, made 
"hangings, coverings, and other similar ornamental arti- 
cles." 



292 OF THE NATIVES 

They undoubtedly understood the art of working the more 
common metals, such as copper, gold, silver, &c. though Ju- 
arros has strangely said they did not know the use of metal 
tools, a fact which he himself establishes, by describing 
many of their edifices to be constructed of "hewn stone." 

Columbus when at Cape Honduras (long. 86° W.) was 
visited by a trading canoe of the Indians, (Herrera, i. 260,) 
and says, among other articles of merchandise that consti- 
tuted their cargo, were "small hatchets made of copper to 
hew wood, small bells and plates, crucibles to melt cop- 
per," &c. 

Cabrera, (Del Rio 7 s Description of Ruins near Palen- 
que, 53, 107,) takes notice of "brass medals," (I presume 
copper,) which have been found in various parts of Guate- 
mala in considerable numbers. From his description and the 
plate annexed to the memoir, they appear to have been about 
four or five inches in diameter. He does not inform us 
whether these medals were easts, or simple plates of copper, 
upon which emblematical or ornamental figures have been 
engraved or cut, but we presume they were of the latter 
species. I consider them to have been ornaments that were 
worn on the persons of great men. They are engraved on 
both sides, according to the description he has given of one 
at his 54th page. 

Vessels of silver, according to the same authority, have 
been found in a cavern in the province of Chiapa, (Del Rio, 
107,) one of which on being brought to a priest, was so much 
like "a silver chalice," that it was afterwards used in the ser- 
vice of the altar. Cabrera thinks this circumstance supports 
the early opinion of the Spaniards that St. Thomas had 
preached the gospel in America! 

Juarros mentions incidentally, stars-haped ornaments of 
gold and silver that were worn by the Quiche nobility; and 
Herrera (Hisl. Amer. iii. 297,) says, the goldsmiths among 
the Nicaraguans, "wrought and cast gold extraordinary cu- 
riously." 

They also made jars, and other vessels of clay, and stone, 
for economical and ornamental purposes. Of these, how- 
ever, we can give little account. Two ornamented vases of 
granite found on the coast of Honduras, have been described 
in the Archaslogia, v. 318, and a plate of them with the 
above reference may be seen in Humboldt, Res. i. 90. 

Idols made of stone or clay, are, frequently described by 
the early writers of Guatemala, but we have no account of 
them whereby we might judge of their proficiency in the 
statuary art. As idolatrous objects, we shall take notice of 
them in an ensuing page. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



293 



Among other indications of an advanced state of demi- 
civilization, we observe in the history of Herrera, that the 
people of Guatemala carried on a considerable trade with one 
another. Their traffic was by barter or exchange of commo- 
dities; but it appears also from Herrera, {Hist. Jimer. iii. 
299, 340,) that they generally recognized, like the Mexicans, 
the nuts of the cacao as a kind of money, or intermediate 
article of barter. 

The natives of Yucatan, traded to a considerable extent 
with those of Honduras, going thither "by sea in canoes 
carrying cloth, feather work, and other things, in exchange 
for which they took home cacao." {Herrera, i. 259. iv. 
135.) 

Apoxpalan, a merchant of Acalan in Honduras, [Herrera, 
iii. 360,) "drove a great trade in cotton, cacao, slaves, salt, 
gold, red snails, which they wore as ornaments, rosin, per- 
fumes for their temples, hearts of pine trees to light them, 
colours and dyes to paint themselves in time of war and on 
festivals, besides other commodities; and accordingly he had 
factors in several towns where fairs were kept." 

Herrera says this Apoxpalan was lord of Acalan, "it being 
the custom of this province to choose the wealthiest merchant 
of the place for their ruler." 

In Nicaragua, {Herrera, iii. 340,) the natives held regu- 
lar markets, and sold their goods for cacao instead of money. 

I presume, that houses of accommodation like the oriental 
caravanseras, were erected at certain places in Guatemala, 
for the accommodation of merchants. Bernal Dias, (Conq. 
of Mexico, 412,) who marched with Cortez on an expedi- 
tion into this country, observes on one occasion, "we passed 
on our road some large buildings, where the travelling mer- 
chants of the Indians are used to stop." 

We have already called the reader's attention to the fact, 
that we have less information concerning the aboriginal con- 
dition of Guatemala, than perhaps of any other demi-civilized 
part of America, to which our meagre account of these peo- 
ple is abundant testimony. But as we have yet other mat- 
ters to state which must raise the ancient people of this 
kingdom, to a rank among the most eminent nations of this 
continent as far as civilization is concerned, we must endea- 
vour to impress on the minds of those persons curious in our 
disquisitions, the inevitable conclusion, that nations who had 
made the proficiency in the arts of architecture and design, 
which we shall immediately describe, must have equally ex- 
celled in all those more ordinary particulars of demi-civili- 
zation, which from our want of information, or the careless- 



294 



OF THE NATIONS 



ness of the Spanish conquerors and early writers, we have 
not been able to describe better than in our preceding pages. 

These observations, which anticipate our subject in part, 
we have been induced to make at the present time, as we 
shall not be able hereafter to resume the consideration of 
these particular matters. 

Of the Architectural Monuments of Guatemala. 

We shall now proceed to describe some of those archi- 
tectural monuments of the ancient people of Guatemala, 
which evince the long settlement of a powerful, ingenious, 
and civilized people in that country; who probably wasted 
by internal wars during a succession of ages, became a com- 
paratively easy prey to an army of barbarous Spaniards and 
Indians, who ravaged and desolated this interesting region, 
destroying every thing whose character was not as indestruc- 
tible as the very rocks themselves. 

Of the many ancient monuments of Guatemala, we have 
no account so complete as that which Del Rio, A. D. 1787, 
communicated to the king of Spain, concerning the ruins of 
an ancient city near Palenque in the province of Chiapa. 
From this memoir, hardly known in the United States, we 
shall now make copious extracts. 

"From Palenque," {Del. Rio. p. 3,) "the last town north- 
ward in the province of Ciudad Real de Chiapa, taking a S. 
W. direction and ascending a ridge of high land that divides 
the kingdom of Guatemala from Yucatan or Campeachy, at 
the distance of two leagues is the little river Micol, whose 
waters flowing in a westerly direction unite with the great 
river Tulija. Having passed the Micol, the ascent begins, 
and at half a league from thence, the traveller crosses a little 
stream called Otolum, discharging its waters into the before 
mentioned current. From this point, heaps of ruins are 
discovered, which render the road very difficult for another 
half league, when you gain the height whereon the stone 
houses are situated, being fourteen in number, some more 
dilapidated than others, but still having many of their apart- 
ments perfectly discernible. 

"A rectangular area three hundred yards* in breadth, by 
four hundred and fifty in length, presents a plain at the base 
of the highest mountain forming the ridge, and in the centre 
is situated the largest of these structures which has been as 

* I presume the word yard, to be a translation of the Spanish vara, which 
is about thirty-three inches in length. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



295 



yet discovered.* It stands on a mound twenty yards high, 
and is surrounded by the other edifices, namely, five to the 
northward, four to the south, one to the south west, and 
three to the eastward. 

4 'In all directions around, the fragments of other fallen 
buildings are to be seen, extending along the mountain that 
stretches east and west about three or four leagues either 
way; so that the whole range of this ruined town may be 
computed to extend between seven and eight leagues, but 
its breadth is by no means equal to its length, being but lit- 
tle above a half league wide. 

"The interior of the large building, is in a style of archi- 
tecture strongly resembling the Gothic, and from its rude 
and massive construction promises great durability. The 
entrance is on the eastern side by a portico or corridor thir- 
ty-six varas or yards in length, and three in breadth; sup- 
ported by plain rectangular pillars without either bases or 
pedestals, upon which there are square smooth stones of 
more than a foot in thickness forming an architrave, while 
on the exterior superficies are a species of stucco shields, 
the designs of which accompany this report. Over these 
stones there is another plain rectangular block, five feet 
long, and six broad, extending over two of the pillars. Me- 
dallions or compartments in stucco, containing different de- 
vices of the same material, appear as decorations to the 
chambers, and it is presumable, from the vestiges of the 
heads which can still be traced, that they were the busts of 
a series of kings or lords to whom the natives were subject. 
Between the medallions, there is a range of windows like 
niches, passing from one end of the wall to the other; some 
of them are square, some in form of a Greek cross, and 
others which complete the cross are square, being about two 
feet high and eight inches deep. Beyond this corridor, 
there is a square court, entered by a flight of seven steps. 
The north side is entirely in ruins, but sufficient traces re- 
main to shew that it once had a chamber and corridor, simi- 
lar to those on the eastern side, and which continued entirely 
along the several angles. The south side has four small 
chambers, with no other ornaments than one or two little 
windows like those already described. The western side is 

* Del Rio, page 5, says, "there is a stone aqueduct of great solidity and 
durability which passes under the largest building." Of this very interest- 
ing particular he communicates no further information, which shews how 
slightly he has described those ruins. Juarros, (Hist. Guat. 209,) also makes 
brief mention of this aqueduct, which he relates, to be "of sufficient dimen- 
sions for a man to walk upright in," and that "it yet exists almost entire." 
But his notice does not extend further. 



296 



OF THE NATIONS 



correspondent to its opposite in all respects, but in the va- 
riety of expression of the figures in stucco, these are much 
more rude and ridiculous than the others, and can only be 
attributed to the most uncultivated Indian capacity. 

"Proceeding in the same direction, (no course given nor 
can we guess it,) there is another court, similar in length to 
the last but not so broad, having a passage round it that 
communicated with the opposite side: in this passage there 
are two chambers like those above mentioned, and an inte- 
rior gallery looking on one side upon the court yard, and 
commanding on the other a view of the open country. In 
this part of the edifice some pillars yet remain, on which are 
relievos apparently representing a mournful subject, allud- 
ing no doubt to the sacrifice of some wretched Indian, the 
destined victim of a sanguinary religion. 

"Returning to the south side, the tower delineated in fig. 
12, (Del. Rios Memoir,) presents itself to notice: its height 
is sixteen yards, and to the four existing stories of the build- 
ing, was perhaps added a fifth, with a cupola, which in all 
probability it once possessed. Although these piles dimin- 
ish in size, and are without ornament, yet the design of 
them is singular and very ingenious. This tower has a well 
imitated artificial entrance, as was clearly proved by making 
a horizontal excavation of more than three yards, which I 
wished to carry quite through the edifice, but was forced to 
desist from the operation, as the stones and earth slipped 
down in large quantities from the pressure of the solid body 
that passes through its centre. This, upon inspection, 
proved to be an interior tower, quite plain, with windows 
fronting the former, and gives light to the steps by which 
you are enabled to ascend to its summit. 

"Behind the four chambers already mentioned, there are 
two others of larger dimensions, very well ornamented in 
the rude Indian style, and which appear to have been used 
as oratories. Beyond the oratories, and extending from 
north to south, there are two apartments each twenty-seven 
yards long, by little more than three broad: they contain 
nothing worthy of notice, excepting a stone of an elliptical 
form, embedded in the wall about a yard above the pavement, 
the height of which is one yard and a quarter, and the 
breadth one yard. 

"Below the elliptical stone above described, there is a 
plain rectangular block, more than two yards long, by one 
yard and four inches broad, and seven inches thick, placed 
upon four feet in form of a table, with a figure in bas-relief 
in the attitude of supporting it. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



297 



"At the extremity of the last mentioned apartment, and 
on a level with the pavement, there is an aperture like a 
hatchway, two yards long, and more than one broad, leading 
to a subterranean passage by a flight of steps, which at a re- 
- gular distance form flats or landings, each having its respec- 
tive doorway ornamented on the front." 

It is impossible to comprehend Del Rio's description of 
the many entrances to the subterranean apartments of this 
building. All we can understand, is, that artificial light was 
necessary to enable him to descend into these "gloomy 
chambers," which he describes as being two in number, 
each about sixty-four yards long; but he does not state their 
breadth. "Neither bas-reliefs nor any other embellishments 
were found in these places, nor did they present to notice 
any object excepting some plain stones, two yards and a half 
long, by one and a quarter yard broad, arranged horizontally 
upon four square stands of masonry, rising above half a yard 
above the ground. 

"From this place I proceeded to one of the buildings si- 
tuated on an eminence to the south, of about forty yards in 
height. This edifice forming a parallelogram, resembled 
the first in its style of architecture; it has square pillars, an 
exterior gallery, and a saloon twenty yards long by three 
and a half broad, embellished with a frontispiece on which 
are described female figures with children in their arms of 
the natural size, executed in stucco medio-reliefs. 

"In the inner wall of the gallery, and on each side of the 
door leading into the saloon, there are three stones measur- 
ing three yards in height, and being upwards of one broad, 
all of them covered with hieroglyphics in bas-relief. The 
whole of this gallery and saloon is paved. Leaving this 
structure, and passing by the ruins of many others, or per- 
haps what is more probable of many buildings accessary to 
this principal edifice, the declivity conducts to a little valley 
or open space, whereby the approach to another house in a 
southerly direction is rendered practicable," &c. 

"Eastward of this structure, are three small eminences 
forming a triangle, upon each of which is a square building, 
eighteen yards long by eleven broad, of the same architec- 
ture as the former; but having along their roofings, several 
superstructures about three yards high resembling turrets, 
covered with different ornaments and devices in stucco. In 
the interior of the first of these three mansions, at the end 
of a gallery almost entirely dilapidated, is a saloon, having 
a small chamber at each extremity, while in the centre of 
the saloon, stands an oratory rather more than three yards 



298 



OF THE NATIONS 



square, presenting on each side of the entrance a perpendi- 
cular stone, whereon is portrayed the image of a man in 
bas-relief. Upon entering, I found the entire front of the 
oratory occupied by three stones joined together, on which 
objects are allegorically represented. The outward decora- 
tion is confined to a sort of moulding, finished with small 
stucco bricks, on which are bas-reliefs. The pavement of 
the oratory is quite smooth, and eight inches thick." 

We shall omit any further particulars of the ruins of this 
ancient city, except to state, that these buildings were erect- 
ed with a mortar of lime; a fact incidentally mentioned by 
Del Rio, page 20, who says, he had forwarded specimens of 
that cement for the inspection of the king. 

Among the books that I have consulted on the antiquities 
of Guatemala, I have been unable to find any account or tra- 
dition, that gives us the least information concerning the foun- 
ders of this ancient city. Del Rio does not appear to have 
known even its original appellation. Juarros {Hist. Guat. 
19, 209,) seems to say that it was called Culhuacan. He also 
relates that the ruins were not discovered by the Spaniards 
until the middle of the eighteenth century, but this must 
surely be a mistake, and he can only mean that he would find 
no historical account of it at an earlier period; which will 
convey a sad idea of the apathy of his countrymen on such 
subjects, and justify the hope that we may yet receive rela- 
tions of the greatest importance from scientific travellers, who 
may be able to examine this almost unknown, and highly in- 
teresting country. 

With even the scanty information we possess, it is evident 
that Guatemala abounds with curious and extensive architec- 
tural monuments, but which the nature of our essay prohibits 
us to more than enumerate in certain particulars. Juarros, 
page 209, says, the ruins of Tulha, another deserted city in 
the province of Chiapa, "are sumptuous," though he gives 
us no description; and his brief account of the antiquities of 
Copan and the Cave of Tibulco, of Utatlan, Patinamit, &c, 
prove how many monuments are yet undescribed, when even 
the extensive ruins of Culhuacan were not known to the 
Spanish writers more than about sixty or seventy years since. 

To make this part of our disquisition as complete as possi- 
ble, and which indeed from the scantiness of other materials, 
we are compelled to introduce in order to establish the demi- 
civilization of the Guatemalan nations, we shall make some 
further extracts from Del Rio, to shew the identity of cha- 
racter and design among the various monuments of the coun- 
try, as far as his research and information extended. By 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



299 



this means we shall be better able to enter into the discussion 
of other matters not so well known. Del Rio (Descript. of 
•ft.nct. City near Palenque, p. 7,) describes certain monu- 
ments in the province of Yucatan, which the reader will per- 
ceive are expressly compared with the ruins of Culhuacan 
near Palenque. 

"At the distance of twenty leagues from Merida, south- 
ward, between the curacy called Mona y Ticul and the town 
of Nocacab, are the remains of some stone edifices; one very 
large building has withstood the ravages of time, and still 
exists in good preservation. The natives give it the name 
of Oxmutal. It stands on an eminence of twenty yards in 
height, and measures two hundred yards on each facade. 
The apartments, the exterior corridor, the pillars with figures 
in medio-relievo, are decorated with serpents, lizards, &c. 
formed in stucco; besides which are statues of men with 
palms in their hands, in the act of beating drums and dancing, 
resembling in every respect those observable in the buildings 
of Palenque. Eight leagues distant from the same city, to 
the northward, are the ruined walls of several other houses, 
which increase in number as you advance eastwardly. 

"In the vicinity of the river Lagartos, at a town called 
Mani, which is under the actual jurisdiction of the Francis- 
can friars, in the middle of the principal square, stands a pil- 
lory of a conical shape built of stone, and to the southward, 
rises a very ancient palace resembling that at Palenque, which 
according to tradition, was inhabited upon the arrival of the 
Spanish conquerors by a petty Indian sovereign called Htul- 
rio, who resigned it to the Franciscans for a residence while 
their convent was building. The erection of this palace was 
long anterior to the time of Htulrio, who replied to the in- 
quiries of the fathers relative to the period of its construction, 
that he was totally ignorant of its origin, and only knew that 
it had been inhabited by his ancestors. From hence we may 
draw some inference respecting the very remote antiquity of 
the edifices at Palenque, buried for so many ages in the im- 
penetrable thickets covering a mountain and unknown to the 
historians of the new world, by whom no mention whatso- 
ever is made of their existence. On the road from Merida 
to Bacalar, there are also many other buildings both to the 
north and south, " &c. 

But if the reader has been surprised with the description 
of such extensive and even magnificent architectural ruins, 
which appear to be also not unfrequent in the kingdom of 
Guatemala, we conceive that a greater source of wonder will 
be found in what we have to say concerning the drawings, 



300 



OF THE NATIONS 



sculptures, and hieroglyphics, found on the walls of these 
ancient monuments. 

Appended to Del Rio's memoir, are seventeen plates, con- 
taining drawings of the various objects observed by him at 
the city near Palenque, and which are chiefly representations 
of the hieroglyphic or emblematical figures, to which he re- 
fers in various pages of his description. 

Any one conversant with the picture books of the Mexi- 
cans, will be immediately struck with the very great superi- 
ority of the drawings exhibited by the Guatemalan artists, 
which we have every reason to think have been faithfully 
copied by Del Rio, as is manifested by the extreme minute- 
ness with which all the details are expressed. The tout en- 
semble, has a character peculiar to itself, entirely different 
from any thing observable in the European style of drawing. 
We must also take notice of the identity of character pre- 
served in every one of the plates, which to one accustomed 
to use the pencil, is not only abundant proof of the skill of 
the artist, but when these figures are unlike those to which 
we are accustomed, it becomes almost conclusive that the 
copy has been faithfully made. 

In the decorations of the heads of the figures, we certainly 
discern something like the drawings of the Mexicans, who 
by this means expressed the name, history, or character of 
the individual thus represented, and which we may reasona- 
bly presume, answers the same intention in the Guatemalan 
drawings. But in the form of the body and limbs, and in the 
attitudes in which they are exhibited in Del Rio's plates, we 
have an accuracy of anatomical form and proportion, very far 
exceeding any thing hitherto found in Mexico. I know not 
whether the proportions of the human body are better repre- 
sented by any European artist not of the first excellence; but 
at any rate, we may safely say, they are fully equal to the 
better class of sculptures among the Hindoos, as exhibited 
for instance, in the numerous plates to Moor's Hindu Pan- 
theon. 

This correctness of anatomical proportion in a sculpture of 
the people of Guatemala, which fell under the examination of 
Baron Humboldt, excited his doubts of its being altogether 
an aboriginal drawing, from the very circumstance of its be- 
ing so much superior to those of the Mexicans. His scep- 
ticism, however, arose from the belief that the sculpture 
which he denominates "Mexican monument found at Oaxa- 
ca," (Plate xi. Paris edition, folio,) was brought to him as 
being of Mexican design. This was found to be a mistake, 
which he corrects in the notes to his Atlas Pittoresque 320, 



INHABITING GAUTEMALA. 



301 






or in the English translation, ii. 254, where he 
says the monument in question was found near the 
city of Guatemala. 

In the plates to Del Rio's memoir, is one repre- 
senting this same subject, and is copied perhaps 
from the very same sculpture, as the figures are 
exactly alike excepting some unimportant finish- C 
ing in the ornamental decorations of the head. 
We are thus further enabled to establish Del Rio's 
claim to exactness as a copyist, and having ascer- 
tained this point in one instance, we may the more 
willingly rely upon the other drawings he has giv- 
en; for in every one of the ten plates that contain 
human figures, is the very same style of design, 
and all are equally correct in anatomical propor- 
tions as the one described by Baron Humboldt as 
above quoted. The anticipated want of sufficient 
patronage prevents our furnishing the reader with 
a copy of some of the interesting drawings of 
Del Rio's memoir. 

But the most curious and important matter of 
Del Rio's plates, are the hieroglyphic characters 
connected with several of those figures, whose ex- 
act forms and proportions we have just described. 

As it is impassible by any language of descrip- 
tion, to convey an idea of the nature of these 
hieroglyphic figures, we have selected for the 
purpose of illustrating our subject, a column of 
them, arranged in perpendicular order* opposite 
to the back of a remarkable personage, whom we 
presume to be a priest. 

If we could have been able to exhibit a copy of 
the whole plate from which the annexed column 
has been extracted, it would be unnecessary to ob- 
serve that the figures in the margin are not mere 
fanciful ornaments to the other parts of the sculp- 
ture, as persons unaccustomed to Mexican anti- 
quities might suppose to be the case. 

My first impression on viewing these hiero- 
glyphics, was, that they were marks of days or 
years, according to a system analogous to that we 
have already described in our account of the Mex- 

* We have not thought it amiss to observe, that other series of these hiero- 
glyphics are placed in a horizontal line, and some like the two sides of a 
right angle, one side of which is horizontal, a.nd the other depending from 
the right hand end. 
39 







302 



OP THE NATIONS 



ican astronomy. But a very little examination shewed that 
these hieroglyphics were not simple, but compound figures. 
I then supposed, that as the Mexicans had used their simple 
hieroglyphics in periodical series, that possibly these com- 
pound figures were made by the union of the different figures 
of a periodic series, which when thus combined, composed 
each group of the Guatemalan hieroglyphics. 

But though I think, that generally, three figures may be 
discerned in each group, yet there are others apparently com- 
posed of two, four, and five figures, which not only destroys 
the regularity of such a composition as I had supposed, but 
it is evident besides, that this is not the key to the construc- 
tion of the hieroglyphic group; for we ought then to find at 
least one or more figures in each compound, like the one 
which precedes or follows any particular group, which is not 
the case. 

I am therefore unable to perceive any principle which 
would shew them to be hieroglyphic marks arranged either 
in an arithmetic or chronological order. 

That these hieroglyphics express ideas, we can hardly 
doubt, as similar arrangements of them are annexed to various 
personages in Del Rio's plates, which are entirely different 
both in order and composition from those attached to any 
other figure. In a few instances, we have observed the re- 
petition of some of the groupings in a different arrangement; 
but the component parts of the groups, may be frequently 
seen in the composition of different groups, united with other 
parts not found repeated. 

Hence I would infer, that each group conveys an idea or 
sense analogous to the characters of the Chinese, who after 
making the mark of the radical, annex to it various other sig- 
nificant marks, by which the sense is almost infinitely ex- 
tended in each genus of their ideas. To express myself more 
distinctly, we observe that among the Chinese the heart is a 
genus, whose radical mark perhaps originally of that shape, 
is now expressed by a curve line. By the addition of other 
significant marks to this radical, all the sentiments, passions, 
and affections, are denoted which can be referred to our mo- 
ral feelings or sensibilities, and thus in like manner with the 
other characters of their writing. 

The Chinese characters in present use, bear no resemblance 
to the objects they once represented; but this is supposed to 
have ensued from the greater facility with which the present 
marks are made, being the result of the changes constantly 
taking place in every succeeding age, by which each genera- 
tion of writers endeavoured to simplify the characters used 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



303 



by their predecessors. But originally, according to the best 
authority, (Morrison, Chin. Diet, x.) it seems highly pro- 
bable, perhaps "unquestionable," that the characters of the 
Chinese language "originated in pictures of visible objects, 
and from thence by allusion gradually extended from things 
visible and capable of being represented, to things immate- 
rial and beyond the cognizance of the senses." This I be- 
lieve is also the opinion of the Chinese themselves. 

Assuming therefore the fact, that the characters of the Chi- 
nese writing were originally hieroglyphics more or less 
abridged in the drawing, I think we may safely infer, 
that the Guatemalans had proceeded on a similar plan, and 
that their hieroglyphics do-not represent sounds or words, but 
ideas, which by some arbitrary system are connected together, 
so as to convey to the mind those particulars of history or 
religion, they might consider important to record. 

Though we labour under the very great disadvantage of 
not knowing the real signification of these hieroglyphics, I 
think we cannot be wrong in considering them as expressing 
ideas on the Chinese plan. But as the monuments of Pa~ 
lenque are still in existence, it is to be hoped that some man 
of science will ere long ascertain the real nature of these sin- 
gular hieroglyphics with greater force of argument than we 
have been able to apply to the subject. 

We have no information whether similar hieroglyphic 
characters are found in other parts of Guatemala, a circum- 
stance, however, we need not be surprised at; for Del Rio 
does not clearly appear to me, to have been aware of those 
that he has depicted in his plates of the ruins of Palenque. 
But as he describes some monuments in Yucatan to be adorn- 
ed with figures of men and animals, similar to those he has 
described on the ruins of that ancient city, it is by no means 
improbable that the hieroglyphic characters are to be ob- 
served there also. 

Of the Books, and Scientific Attainments of the Guate- 
malan Nations. 

We have abundant proof that the natives of the various 
provinces of Guatemala had many books among them when 
they were first invaded by the Spaniards. They are parti- 
cularly mentioned as having been found in Yucatan, Hondu- 
ras and Nicaragua. (Jicosta, Nat. and Mor. Hist. lib. 6. 
chap. 7; Herrera, iii. 300, iv. 164, 165, 175, &c.) These 
books are in general terms described to have been made of 
the leaves of trees, square, and folded like bellows, "in which 
after their manner., was contained the distribution of their 



304 



OF THE NATIONS 



times, (calendars) the knowledge of plants, beasts, their an* 
tiquities, and other curious matters," &c. 

The general comparison is also made that they were like 
the pictured writings of the Mexicans. "They used the 
same figures instead of letters as those of Mexico," says 
Herrera; by which we can understand that they were biero- 
glyphical in their appearance; but that they were exactly 
like those of the Mexicans I question whelher the Spanish 
barbarians took the trouble to ascertain. For at an early 
period, some stupid priests caused all the books they could 
lay their hands on to be committed to the flames, as contain- 
ing "matters of enchantment and witchcraft." 

By this deplorable fanaticism and stupidity, we are left 
almost entirely in ignorance concerning the science, religion, 
and history, of this most interesting part of America. Can 
we cherish the hope excited by Baron Humboldt, that a con- 
siderable number of historical paintings, after the lapse of 
three hundred years, may be still found in the hands of the 
Indians of Oaxaca, Yucatan, Guatemala, &e. ? Let us at least 
hope, that some of the literati of Europe will make an at- 
tempt to explore this unknown part of America, and recover 
those things, that time has spared to this day. 

Among all the collections of picture writings usually de- 
nominated Mexican, that have been preserved by European 
curiosity, there are none that I know of that are considered 
of Guatemalan fabrication; at any rate, none are so designated 
by Baron Humboldt, the only savant who has treated ex- 
pressly of such subjects. Yet I cannot but think it highly 
probable, that one at least, has been preserved from the ge- 
neral destruction, which that great antiquarian has introduced 
in his Atlas Pittoresque, without particular recognition. We 
allude to the hieroglyphic manuscript preserved in the royal 
library of Dresden, of which a specimen is furnished in the 
45th plate of Humboldt's splendid work. 

We are induced to make this observation on that manu- 
script, from perceiving that around the figures of men and 
animals depicted on the pages, are a number of hieroglyphic 
characters, arranged in horizontal lines as if containing mat- 
ters of comment or explanation. That these characters are 
really ideographic, I think will be the impression of every 
one that inspects the plate of Baron Humboldt's atlas, and 
from being so much like the characters depicted in Del Rio's 
monuments of Palenque, I presume, is plausible ground to 
infer a Guatemala origin for the Dresden manuscript.* 

* Peter Martyr, (Hackluyfs, W. Indies, 168,) describes the books of the 
people of Yucatan, to be written "in characters which are very unlike ours- 



INHABITING* GUATEMALA. 



305 



Baron Humboldt calls this manuscript Azteck or Mexican, 
but as he was ignorant of its existence, until after his great 
work on the monuments of America was actually in press, 
he had not sufficient time to investigate particularly its his- 
tory and origin. It is said in the English translation of 
Humboldt's Researches, that this manuscript was purchased 
at Vienna, by the librarian Gcetze, in his literary journey to 
Italy A. D. 1739. The Baron's words are not so positive, 
being, "paroit avoir ete achete a Vienne." The correction, 
however, in this instance is not of much consequence. 

Humboldt describes it to be drawn upon paper made of 
metl, (Agave Mexicana,) and like other manuscripts he had 
procured in Mexico: 4 'but what renders it most remarkable, 
is the disposition of the simple hieroglyphics, many of which 
are arranged in lines as in a real symbolic writing. On com- 
paring the 45th piate with the 13th, and 27th, we see that 
the Codex Mexicanus of Dresden, resembles none of those 
rituals, in which the image of the astrological sign, that go- 
verns the half lunation or small period of thirteen days, is 
surrounded by asterisms of lunar days. Here a great num- 
ber of simple hieroglyphics follow each other without con- 
nexion, as in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the keys of 
the Chinese." {Humboldt, Res. ii. 146) 

We cannot but regret, that this great archaeologist had not 
sufficient time to study this singular manuscript at full lei- 
sure; for we can unly suggest considerations derived from 
his plates, under every disadvantage that could embarrass 
the investigation. But we cannot err in saying, that not 
only the hieroglyphic characters of this manuscript, distin- 
guish it from all others of Mexican workmanship, but the 
very drawings of men and animals, and particularly of the 
former, are much superior to any similar work of undoubted 
Mexican fabrication, as far as they are represented in the 
Atlas Pittoresque. We have therefore two particulars, first, 
in the hieroglyphic characters, and secondly, in the superior 
drawing, by which we may be apparently justified in the be- 
lief, that the Dresden manuscript is not of Mexican origin; 
and in these points of difference, it agrees with what we 
should expect from the hands of the Guatemalan artists. 

but written after our manner, line after line, with characters like small dice, 
fish hooks, snares, files, stars, and other such like forms and shapes; and be- 
tween the lines, they paint the shapes of men and beasts, especially of their 
kings and nobles." 

This relation seems to agree very well with the character of the Dresden 
manuscript; and Peter Martyr's description of the proper Mexican books at 
page 234, will justify the belief, that the last were different in appearance 
from the former. 



306 



OF THE NATIONS 



But having this presumptive proof that the Dresden man- 
uscript was not derived from the hands of the Mexicans, 
can we be altogether certain that it was painted or written 
in Guatemala? This new source of embarrassment arises 
from the singular fact, that the Panoes, a people of the pre- 
sent kingdom of Peru, have pictured books among them, 
the description of which will also in general accord with the 
appearance of the Dresden manuscript. 

The Panoes live on the banks of the Ucayale river, the 
principal branch of the Amazon, a little to the north of the 
mouth of the Sarayacu, (lat. 6° 30' S. Ion. 72° 30' W.) They 
are considered at present but a barbarous tribe, though in 
fact, we hardly know any thing concerning them. Hum- 
boldt, {Res. i. 174,) gives us a most interesting particular of 
their history on the authority of a respectable Spanish mis- 
sionary who had visited them, and procured one of the books 
seen in their possession, which was sent to Lima for literary 
examination. After a slight inspection by several persons 
of that metropolis, this interesting book disappeared, and 
has not been discovered since. 

According to the account given to Baron Humboldt of this 
manuscript, by the missionary and those who had seen it at 
Lima, it resembled our volumes in quarto, "pieces of tolera- 
bly fine cotton cloth formed the leaves, which were fastened 
by threads of the agave. Every page was covered with 
paintings. These were figures of men and of animals, and a 
great number of isolated characters which were deemed hi- 
eroglyphical, arranged in lines with admirable order and 
symmetry. The liveliness of the colours was particularly 
striking," &c. 

Hence the description of this book of the Panoes, as far 
as respects the figures and hieroglyphics on the pages, is very 
similar to those of the Dresden manuscript, and we are not 
a little perplexed to decide, whether it be from the Panoes, 
or of Guatemalan origin. The arguments in favour of the 
last supposion, are its similarity in details to the drawings 
of men, and the hieroglyphic characters, copied by Del Rio 
from the ruins near Palenque, and also that it is painted upon 
paper made from the Mexican aloe; which manufacture we 
have hitherto considered peculiar to the Mexicans, Guate- 
malans, &c. 

The book of the Panoes is described to have been made of 
tolerably fine cotton cloth, "the pages of which were fasten- 
ed by threads of the agave," (aloe.) In this particular it 
diners from the Dresden manuscript, which is of paper made 
from the agave, but this circumstance is not altogether con 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



307 



elusive, for the Panoes may have had books also made from 
the agave, the thread of which they are said to have used in 
fastening the leaves of the book sent to Lima. 

The possibility of procuring a book from the Panoes, is 
attended with very great difficulties from their remote inland 
situation; yet Quesada, Huten, and some other ruffians, 
(Humboldt, Pers. Nar. v. 820,) had reached near their 
very neighbourhood in the middle of the 16th century, when 
searching after the city of the famous El Dorado, and might 
have obtained the manuscript in question; or it may have 
been procured by some Spanish trader or missionary at a 
much later period of time. 

We might cut the knot that embarrasses us by supposing 
the Panoes of Toltecan or Guatemalan descent, a suggestion 
intimated by Humboldt; but we are not justified by this one 
fact of their having pictured books, to make that supposition; 
for certainly there is nothing exclusively Toltecan in the in- 
vention. 

Under these circumstances of perplexity, the safest course 
we can follow, is, after putting the reader on his guard by 
the above recital, to consider at least for the present, that 
the Dresden manuscript is of Guatemalan fabrication; as it 
presents greater internal evidence in favour of such an hy- 
pothesis, and there are perhaps fifty chances to one, between 
the probabilities of procuring it from Guatemala than from 
the remotely situated Panoes. 

We are unacquainted with any other matters of a scientific 
nature involved in the history of the Guatemalan nations, 
excepting their astronomic calendars; whose features we per- 
ceive were exactly like those of the Mexicans, concerning 
which we have discoursed at length in the preceding chap- 
ter. This conformity was to be expected; for the Mexicans 
attributed their knowledge of that system to the Tolteeas, 
whose civilized institutions we have every reason to believe, 
were generally imparted to the Guatemalan nations. 

It was a fortunate circumstance that the early writers upon 
Mexican antiquities, preserved the plan or construction of 
these calendars in their histories of that kingdom; for though 
we can understand the allusions and comparisons made by 
the Spaniards, to the identity of the Guatemalan arrange- 
ment of time, with that of the Mexicans, yet without our 
previous knowledge of the subject, no one would in the 
least suspect their ingenious and artificial composition, from 
any account we have hitherto seen of the people of Guate- 
mala. 

In Honduras, according to Herrera, (Hist, Amer< ivv 



308 



OP THE NATIONS 



141,) the natives called their year Joalor, (that which passes 
away,) dividing it into eighteen months, each of twenty 
days. So also in Nicaragua, (Herrera, in. 300,) the same 
arrangement is implied in the expression, "the priests pro- 
claimed the festivals, being eighteen in number, as they did 
the months, standing on the steps of the place of sacrifice." 
In Yucatan, they appear to have had two modes of computa- 
tion, (Herrera, iv. 176,) one of which was exactly the 
Mexican, or rather Toltecan calendar of eighteen months of 
twenty days, and five nemontemi. The other is thus descri- 
bed: "Their year was exact like ours, consisting of 365 
days, divided into twelve months, five days, and six hours. 
The months they called V,* signifying moon, and they 
reckoned from her first appearing new until she was not to 
be seen." 

1 know not what to say upon this last distribution of time, 
for we have met with nothing similar to it among any of the 
demi-civilized nations of America. In Peru, and among 
the barbarous nations, the year may be said to have been 
composed of months or moons, but in no case was it so ad- 
justed, as to complete the entire number of days in a solar 
year. I rather suspect, it was a common lunar year that 
Herrera has thus described, though he is certainly very ex- 
act in his account of its divisions and parts. The reader 
will understand, that it is only to the division into twelve 
months that we demur; for the Toltecas knew the^ exact 
length of the tropical year, as we have abundantly shewn in 
our discourse on the astronomy of the Mexicans. 

The Chiapenese, also divided their year into eighteen 
months of twenty days; and we have this additional infor- 
mation, that instead of using the twenty simple hierogly- 
phics of the Mexicans to distinguish the days of the month, 
they employed the names of twenty illustrious individuals 
of their ancient heroes; four of w T hom being particularly 
eminent, serve to distinguish the commencement of each 
small period of five days, into which the month was divided. 
As all these matters have been discussed in our history of 
the Mexican astronomy, we shall not again repeat our ob- 
servations in this place. 

Of the Religion of the Guatemalan Nations. 

Concerning the religion of the nations of Guatemala, we 
have collected some very curious particulars, but which as 

* I do not know whether Herrera means the sound of the letter V, in 
Spanish vay; or the sound of the number V 3 cinco, five. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



309 



we have too often had occasion to lament, have been com- 
municated by the Spanish writers without order or method; 
sometimes in a diffuse relation, at other times being only 
mentioned incidentally, and often barely alluded to without 
reference to any other account. We shall endeavour to lay 
before the reader, all the information we have been able to 
procure, and in the most consistent manner we can devise, 
but which indeed, will too often appear in fragments, uncon- 
nected with the subject that may precede or may follow in 
our arrangement. 

The people of Yucatan, {Herrera, iv. 176,) believed in 
the immortality of the soul, and in separate places of exis- 
tence for the virtuous and the wicked after death, in which 
the former enjoyed every kind of happiness according to 
their estimation of felicity, and the latter suffered "hunger, 
cold, sorrow and torment." 

These people, according to Herrera, "knew that the plagues 
and calamities that befel them, were occasioned by their sins, 
and therefore they used confession when sick or in any dan- 
ger of death. They declared their sins in public, (i. e. 
openly) and if they omitted any thing, their kindred put 
them in mind; the confession being made to the priest if 
present, or else to fathers or mothers, or wives to their hus- 
bands. The sins so confessed, were theft, murder, fornica- 
tion, and perjury; but they did not confess any sins of in- 
tention, though such were looked upon as evil." 

The practice of thus confessing sins, it may be presumed, 
was a general one throughout the kingdom; for it is men- 
tioned incidentally in several places, and particularly in Ni- 
caragua, (Herrera, iii. 300,) where they perhaps shewed 
some wisdom, in permitting matrimony to the priests who 
heard confessions, while they required celibacy from others 
not thus employed. 

The term, "confession of sins," I doubt not will sound very 
strangely to the ears of many of my readers, who consider- 
ing the words in a technical or theological sense, may be 
disposed to suggest many modes of explaining this practice 
among the Guatemalan Indians, rather than directly admit 
the simple fact. I presume, however, there is nothing so 
very singular in the statement, when we consider, that these 
nations believed in the immortality of the soul, and future 
retribution for the good or evil actions of their lives. Hence 
believing that they lived under the superintendence of a 
special providence by whom they would be judged hereafter, 
nothing is more natural than that they should profess peni- 
tence for their misdeeds, which is all that is implied by the 
40 



310 



OF THE NATIONS 



words, "confessing their sins," i. e. they acknowledged that 
certain actions of their lives, had been wrong or improper, and 
by confessing them to have been such, the inference is di- 
rect that they would not again repeat or commit them. 

Though it is evident that these confessions were made to 
"fathers, mothers, husbands," &c. yet it is very probable, 
they preferred making their profession of penitence to the 
priests, who would naturally be considered more wise and 
holy than ordinary individuals, as being engaged in the im- 
mediate service of their deities, and therefore more potential 
in any application to be made in their behalf. 

Hence the simple belief in a superintending providence, 
would lead to the practice of confessing sins; then of pre- 
ferring a priest to advise or assist them, and finally would 
induce the belief, that the priests could not only procure 
them immunity for past transgressions, but also health and 
other temporal enjoyments. We may likewise suppose, that 
the priests were not inactive in establishing their own im- 
portance in these particulars; for they no doubt encouraged 
such a belief in the people, and confirmed their influence by 
fraudulent oracles and miracles, as we are indeed, expressly 
informed by Herrera. {Hist. Jlmer. iv. 173.) 

I apprehend, therefore, that nothing is more natural to any 
pagan nation possessing a moral sense, than the course pur- 
sued by the Guatemalans, and which may indeed, be perceiv- 
ed in the religious institutions of them all. Mr. Volney, 
(Les Humes, note 87,) in his zeal to attack Christianity, did 
not discriminate between the abuse of confession, as a priest- 
ly appendix to Christianity, and the natural conscientiousness 
of acknowledging our faults whenever we have done amiss. 
And he therefore makes the following observation, "La con- 
fession etait practiquee dans les mysteres Egyptiens, Grecs, 
Phrygiens, Persians, &c." We do not doubt it has been 
practised in the same manner all over the pagan world. 

Herrera (Hist. Jlmer. iv. 172,) says, that baptism was 
known in Yucatan, though not in any other province of New 
Spain; he also says "the name they gave it, signified to be 
born again; believing they in it received a pure disposition 
to be good; that the devils could not hurt them, and that they 
were put in the way to bliss. No man could be married 
without it," &c. 

From the manner in which he describes the ensuing cer- 
emony to have been performed, I presume, that when the 
Yucatanese children reached a certain age, they were subject- 
ed to this aspersion, which will convey to us a pretty good 
idea of the real nature of the ceremony. The priest, says 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



311 



Herrera, "came out in long and decent vestments, with a 
sprinkler in his hand ; white cloths were laid on the children's 
heads, and the biggest of them were asked whether they had 
committed any sin, and when they had confessed, they were 
set aside and blessed with certain prayers, shaking the sprink- 
ler at them, and dabbing their foreheads and features, and 
between their fingers and toes, with a sort of water they had 
in a horn. Then the priest took off the cloths from the 
children's heads, and having received some presents, the so- 
lemnity ended in feasting." 

Though Herrera calls this ceremony, "baptism," it was 
certainly nothing more than one of those forms of lustration 
or purifying, which have been practised among all pagan na- 
tions who have attained a certain degree of civilization ; and 
who naturally enough perceive the metaphorical propriety 
that exists between purity of life and manners, and the use of 
white and clean garments, or of clean water either applied 
by sprinkling or by ablutions of the person. A very little 
acquaintance with the rites of paganism sufficiently establishes 
this point. 

The ancient Persians, {Hyde Bel. Vet. Pers. 113,) the 
Greeks, (Potter's Grec. Jintiq. i. 176,) the Druids, (Tol- 
land, Hist. Druids, 305,) and almost every other civilized 
pagan nation made use of similar baptisms, as they have been 
called by various writers. Tertullian in Hyde, as above quo- 
ted, says, "In suis etiam sacris habebant Mithriaci lavacra, 
(quasi regenerationis) in quibus tingitetipse (sacerdos) quos- 
dam utique credentes et fideles suos, et expiatoria delecto- 
rum de lavacro repromittit, et sic adhuc initiat Mithrse." 

Mallet (North. Jintiq. i. 335, 336,) observes, "It is re- 
markable that a kind of infant baptism was practised in the 
north, (of Europe) long before Christianity had reached those 
parts." Of this practice he cites various instances. 

Purchas reports from Gomara, or Peter Martyr, (Pilgrims, 
v. 885,) that "some of the idolaters of Yucatan were circum- 
cised, but not all." Is there any mistake in this matter? I 
have no means of ascertaining the truth. The fact, however, 
is not mentioned by Herrera, nor by any other Spanish wri- 
ter within my reach. I am inclined to think it a mis- 
conception, altogether arising from a slight observation of the 
self-lacerations, which these idolaters inflicted on themselves, 
by which they drew blood from wounds made in various 
parts of the body as well as from their privates, of which we 
shall speak hereafter. Supposing, however, that possibly Go- 
mara may be correct in his statement, I will observe, lest 
some of the advocates of the Jewish hypothesis, may claim 



312 



OF THE NATIONS 



this circumstance in their favour, that circumcision was not 
a ceremony peculiar to the Jews alone. It is very widely 
practised among the natives of the South sea islands, as may 
be seen in almost every voyager's account of that ocean. The 
Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Colchians, also practised this cere- 
mony from the remotest antiquity, which is not satisfactorily 
explained by the supposition that they acquired it from the 
Jews. * 

That human sacrifices were made in various parts of Guate- 
mala we have express information. Grijalva, when he first 
arrived at the island of Cozumel, (Herrera, ii. 121,) found 
persons there who informed him of this particular; and we 
are instructed by the same authority, (Herrera, iii. 300, iv. 
154, 155, 169, 174,) that similar sacrifices were made in Yu- 
catan, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Their ritual appears to 
have been precisely similar to that of the Mexicans. Her- 
rera seems to think, these inhuman rites were not properly 
original institutions of the country, but had been derived 
from the Aztecks or Mexicans. This is probably but an er- 
roneous conjecture, for the universality of human sacrifices 
all over the pagan world, makes this superstitious cruelty too 
congenial to mankind, to seek its origin in a simple imitation 
of the barbarous rites of an adjoining people. It is, however, 
a reasonable supposition, that such sacrifices were much less 
frequent in this kingdom than in Mexico; for Herrera informs 
us, that "the office of ripping open the breasts of men sacri- 
ficed, which was honourable in Mexico, was not so here." 

We presume, they also sacrificed birds and smaller animals 
to their gods, and fumigated them with gum copal, &c. but 
of these particulars, we have not met with any account in 
Herrera or Juarros, except an incidental notice of the lat- 
ter practice at the island of Cozumel, where Herrera, ii. 169, 
also says, a high priest preached to the Indians while per- 
forming their idolatrous rites. 

In the account of the Nicaraguans given by Herrera, (Hist, 
tflmer. iii. 301,) we perceive that they made religious pro- 
cessions in honour of their deities. The one that he has de- 
scribed, being important in its bearing upon other matters in 
our disquisition we shall extract at some length. 

"When the priest daubed the idol's face with the blood of 
the person sacrificed, the rest sang, and the people prayed 
with tears and devotion, and walked in procession, though 
not upon all festivals." At such times as they were made, 
"the laymen carried little flags representing the idol they 

* Bishop Cumberland ( Third Remark on Sanconiatho,) was of the same opin- 
ion. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



313 



held in most veneration, &c. The standard was the picture 
of the devil, set upon a spear carried by the oldest priest; they 
proceeded in order, the religious men singing, to the place 
of the idolatrous worship. There they covered the ground 
with carpets, and strewed roses and flowers, that the devil 
might not touch the ground. The standard being fixed, the 
singing ceased, they fell to prayer, the prelate gave a stroke 
with his hand, they drew blood at their tongues, others at 
their ears, others at their privities, or according as their de- 
votion led them: they received the blood on a paper, or their 
fingers, and daubed the idol's face. In the mean time, the 
youth skirmished and danced in honour of the festival. At 
these processions, they blessed Indian wheat (maize) sprink- 
led with the blood of their genitals, which was distributed 
and eaten like blessed bread." 

We here perceive a ceremony analogous in certain parti- 
culars, to the one described when speaking of the religion of 
the Mexicans, where bread made with blood was consecrated 
and eaten by them as a part of their religious observances. 
The foregoing account of the Nicaraguans, affords additional 
confirmation to that extraordinary practice, which we have 
also shewn, has prevailed among many pagan nations of either 
continent the most remotely separated from each other. We 
shall not again repeat the observations made at that place, 
(page 240,) but it may not be altogether amiss, to call the 
attention of the reader to the statement made by Herrera, 
that the Nicaraguans sprinkled the maize used on such occa- 
sions with blood drawn from their genitals. 

As the wounds or injuries inflicted upon these organs, are 
more painful than upon any other part of the human body, it 
may be worth while to ask, why the blood used in the pre- 
paration of this consecrated maize, was drawn from these 
sensitive parts, in preference to that which they drew at the 
very same time from other members of the body? Was it 
selected with some metaphorical reference, as proceeding 
from sources of life? and by which, in a very gross manner, 
they imparted the idea of something spiritually vivifying?* 
I shall not undertake to decide this question, though when 
taken in connection with other matters belonging to the re- 
ligion of the Mexicans, Peruvians, and the idolaters of the 
eastern continent, (see page 240,) it is not undeserving of se- 
rious consideration. We may very safely say, there was 

* The phallus was carried in the ancient mysteries of Egypt and Phoenicia, 
as an emblem of that mystical regeneration and new life to which the initia- 
ted had pledged themselves. Tertullian, (contra Valent:) says, "virile mem- 
brum totum esse mysterium." {Warburton Div. Leg. i. 168, 169.) 



314 



OF THE NATIONS 



nothing lascivious connected with the ceremony, and the 
Spanish writers have attributed nothing of that nature to the 
procession. 

The priests exercised great authority over the Guatemalan 
nations, and in not a few incidental relations of Herrera, they 
seem to have been at least equal with, if not superior to the 
caciques or kings of the country, Herrera states, that in Yu- 
catan, the people were "very submissive to the priests." 
We have already observed, that the Chiapenese priests chose 
the executive officers that ruled that nation, and on various 
occasions, the high priests of different provinces of this king- 
dom were present in time of battle, being posted along with 
the general of the army, who most commonly was also the 
king of the country. 

We may infer the great importance of the high priest 
among the people of Honduras and Nicaragua, by the follow- 
ing statement of Herrera. (Hist. Amer. iv. 155, 156.) When 
the high priest died, the people lamented him and fasted fif- 
teen days; but when the cacique, or the general, or even their 
own children died, they mourned for them but four days. 

From the frequent mention that is made of high priests, 
confessors, &c. and the implied distinction between them and 
other priests, there can be no doubt, there was a regular 
hierarchical establishment among the different nations of 
Guatemala, but concerning this subject we have no informa- 
tion, except in a brief notice of the Pipils of Honduras, which 
we may presume, is a pretty fair exhibition of the general 
ecclesiastical establishments of the kingdom. "Besides their 
lord," [Herrera, iv. 154,) "they had an high priest, who 
wore a long blue garment, with a diadem on his head, and 
sometimes a mitre wrought with several colours, and at the 
labels of it a bunch of divers coloured feathers, carrying a 
crozier like a bishop,* and was obeyed by all persons in 
spirituals. The next to him was a notable doctor in their 
books and soeeries, who explained their omens. Four more 
priests there were clothed in several colours, all admitted to 
council in such things as appertained to their rites. A sa- 
crist kept the jewels and things that belonged to their sacri- 
fices, and pulled out the hearts of men sacrificed. Others 
sounded trumpets and such instruments as were used to call 
the people to the sacrifices." 

Among this people when the high priest died, his succes- 
sor was chosen by lot among the four members of his coun- 

* These words mitre and crozier, are instances of the common practice of 
the first conquerors of America, to call things by names often founded in 
the slightest similarity to those objects they had been accustomed in 
Europe. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



315 



cil, as already stated. In Yucatan the office was hereditary 
and he was succeeded by his son. 

The dress of the priests in general (Herrera, iii. 30 1,) ap- 
pears to have been "white, short, some narrow, others had 
them hanging from their shoulders to their heels; with purses 
instead of tufts or tassels, in which they had sharp pieces 
of jet, papers, coals powdered, and certain herbs." 

The priests were not permitted to marry, excepting those 
who heard confessions. (Herrera, iii. 300.) 

I presume, that like the Mexicans, they had monks or ce- 
libates established in various parts of the kingdom. In the 
province of Honduras, we are informed (Herrera, iv. 139,) 
of the following particulars, which I consider points out 
such an institution. "In the fields were little houses, long 
and narrow, and high from the ground, in which were their 
gods of stone, clay, wood, &c. and with them were old men 
naked, who lived an austere life, wearing their hair very 
long wound in tresses about their heads; of them they asked 
advice in martial affairs, administration of justice, marriages, 
and the like, leaving them offerings of eatables, &c. None 
but the prime men might talk with those priests because they 
held them in great veneration." 

Though we find the Spanish writers constantly mentioning 
the temples of the natives of Guatemala, they have scarcely 
given us an account of their form and construction. The 
most particular relation I have met with, is that of a temple 
at the island of Cozumei, when first visited by Grijalva. 
"They saw" (Herrera, ii. 121,) "several places of worship 
and temples, and particularly one in form like a square tower, 
wide at the bottom and hollow at the top, with four large 
windows and galleries; and in the hollow part being the cha- 
pel, were the idols, behind which was a sort of vestry, 
where the things belonging to the service of the temple 
were kept. At the foot of it, was an enclosure of lime and 
stone, with battlements, and plaistered," &c. 

This description agrees very exactly with the tower de- 
scribed by Del Rio among the ruins near Palenque, as may 
be seen page 296. 

We may likewise presume, that other monuments of that 
ruined city were for religious use, and also that the greater 
part of the architectural remains with which Guatemala ap- 
pears to abound, were also of this character. Herrera con- 
siders them in this light; for when speaking of what he 
calls "the stately stone buildings" of Yucatan, he remarks, 
"they seem to have been temples, for their houses were al- 
ways of timber and thatched." 



316 



OF THE NATIONS 



It is impossible for us to state from our scanty materials, 
whether the people of Guatemala erected any of those trun- 
cated pyramidal mounds with temples on their tops, such as 
we have described when speaking of the idolatry of the 
Mexicans. We presume, however, they did. Del Rio, as 
the reader may have observed in the extracts taken from his 
memoir, speaks frequently of the mounds upon which the 
ruins at Palenque are built, but he does not describe them 
particularly. Neither Herrera nor Juarros, make particu- 
lar mention of this matter. 

From Juarros we learn, that in certain instances, the peo- 
ple of Guatemala made use of caverns for religious worship, 
the description of which forcibly reminds us of the rock ca- 
verns and temples of Ellora, Elephanta, and other similar 
monuments of Hindoo workmanship. (*ds. Res. iv. 407, 
vi. 389, &c.) 

"The ca7e of Tibulca," (Juarros, 57,) "appears like a 
temple of great size hollowed out of the base of a hill, and 
is adorned with columns, having bases, pedestals, capitals, 
and crowns, all accurately adjusted according to architectural 
orinciples; at the sides are numerous windows, faced with 
stone exquisitely wrought." 

"The cavern of Mixco" (Juarros, 488,) "has a portico 
formed of clay; it is in some parts entire and appears to be 
of the Doric order. From the entrance, a flight of thirty- 
six stone steps descends to a lofty saloon about sixty yards 
square; from this chamber the descent continues by another 
flight, beyond which nothing more is known, as no person 
sufficiently courageous or imprudent enough to resist the tre- 
mulous motion of the ground under foot, has yet advanced 
more than a few paces. Descending eighteen steps of this 
second flight, there is on the right hand another door-way 
forming a perfect arch; and having passed this, there are six 
steps, in all similar to the former, from which there is a pas- 
sage about one hundred and forty feet in length. Further 
than this part it has not been explored; many extraordinary 
accounts of it have been fabricated, but they are such as will 
not bear repeating." 

We have no knowledge concerning the particular rites or 
service performed in these subterraneous temples. They 
have in the eastern continent, been devoted to the celebra- 
tion of the highest mysteries of paganism,* and in which, to 
use the words of an author not unfrequently eloquent, 

* "Porphyry assures us, that holy grottos were symbols of the world, and 
the whole analogy of paganism proves him to be right in his assertion." 
(Faber, Orig. Idoli. 30.) 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



317 



{Maurice, Indian Antiq. ii. 393,) "the hoary sages of an- 
tiquity caused to be acted over again the mighty drama of 
life and of nature." 

But though we are ignorant of all the particulars connect- 
ed with the cavern temples of Tibulca and Mixco, the 
reader will not fail to observe, how much these things con- 
firm our belief that in Guatemala the most civilized and po- 
lished people of America were anciently established; and 
how much it is to be regretted, that their history, their hie- 
roglyphic books, and other matters that would have eluci- 
dated this subject, have perished perhaps without hope of 
recovery. 

Nevertheless, something may be yet done, and we cannot 
too earnestly urge the zeal of European antiquarians, to visit 
and explore the monuments of this most interesting country, 
before every thing falls under the apathy or fanaticism of 
its present native inhabitants. 

To what particular deities, the idolatrous homage of any 
Guatemalan nation was especially directed, we have but the 
most scanty information, and of their appellations, among 
all my books I have been only able to ascertain one name, 
and that without the least information of nature or sex. 
This knowledge is contained in the following words of Juar- 
ros concerning the people of the town of Uspantin; (Hist. 
Guat. 471,) who he says, tore out the hearts of their pri- 
soners of war, "which were presented as an offering to the 
idol Esbalanqueen.'' 

Professor Raffinesque of Philadelphia, however has commu- 
nicated to me the following catalogue of the deities worship- 
ped by the people of Yucatan. This list has been taken from 
Ayeta's Hist, of Yucatan, a single copy of which is to be found 
Jn the United States, in the University Library of Cam- 
bridge near Boston. 

Stunahku, god of gods; who was not represented by any 
image. His first son was Hun Itzamah, or Yaxcohamuc. 

The triple gods, were Izona, god-father; Bacab, son; 
Echvah, the god of merchants. 

Zamna, Itzamna, or Ix-Komleox, was the legislator of 
Yucatan. He was the son of the god Kiuchahan, and the 
goddess Ixcazalvoh, who invented weaving. 

Yzchebelyox, invented painting and writing. 

Chac, a giant god who invented agriculture. 

Ah-chuy-kak, god of war 

Multuntizec, god of evil. 

Chilam-Cambal, god of strength. 
41 



318 



OF THE NATIONS 



Citboluntum, god of health and medicine, he had a wife 
named Yzchel. 

Pizlimtec, god of poetry. 
Ahkinxuuc, god of music. 
Xuchitun, god of song. 

Kukulkan, the founder of Mayapan; he was represented 
with a wheel of fire. We have mentioned this personage in 
page 278. 

The Pipils of Honduras, {Herrera, iv. 155,) "worshipped 
the rising sun, and had two idols, one in the shape of a man 
and the other of a woman, to whom they offered all their 
sacrifices." These two divinities, I presume, were the same 
with those worshipped in other parts of Honduras, under 
the very ancient idolatrous appellations of great father and 
great mother. Herrera, [Hist, timer, iv. 138,) relates, 
"among the many idols they worshipped, there was one 
called the great father, and another the great mother, of 
whom they begged health; (or life?) to other gods, they 
prayed for wealth, relief in distress," &c. 

Idols made of stone, wood, and clay, representing "men, 
women, and serpents, others with faces like devils, or other 
hideous creatures," w r ere observed by the Spaniards in va- 
rious parts of the kingdom of Guatemala. {Herrera, ii. 
112, 124.) That they were also in great abundance, we may 
judge from what ensued after Ursua conquered the island of 
Peten in Lake Itza, (Yucatan,) "so great was the number 
of idols found in twenty-one places of worship that were in 
the island, as well as in the private houses, that the general, 
officers, and soldiers," (one hundred and eight in number, 
besides confederate Indians,) "were unremittingly employed 
from nine o'clock in the morning until five in the after- 
noon in destroying them." 

Herrera {Hist. Jimer. ii. 112,) says, that at a temple near 
Cape Catoche, (Yucatan) the Spaniards observed, £ 'idols of 
men lying one upon another representing the sin of Sodom. " 
This may have been simply a mistaken impression of the 
Spaniards, or a vile aspersion, by which they often procured 
the assent of the priests who accompanied their banditti ex- 
peditions, to destroy and plunder the natives as enemies of 
God and virtue. It would be a very important fact, how- 
ever, should that particular abomination be indeed connected 
with their religious system, for in this kingdom we have al- 
ready remarked they adored the great father and mother; a 
species of worship which with the ancient idolaters of Asia, 
in the estimation of the Rev. Mr. Faber, unconscious of this 
particular instance, has led to the very practice of that un- 
natural vice. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



319 



I believe it is Peter Martyr (Purchas Pilgrims, v. 885,) 
who remarks, that at a town called Campeche (in Yucatan) 
the Spaniards under Grijalva, "saw a square stage or pulpit 
four cubits high, partly of clammy bitumen and partly of 
small stones, where to the image of a man cut in marble, 
was joined two four footed unknown beasts fastening upon 
him as if they would tear him in pieces. And by the im- 
age stood a serpent all besmeared with blood devouring a 
lion, (the cougouar) it was seven and forty foot long, and as 
big as an ox." 

These figures no doubt had their special or allegorical, sig- 
nifications, but of the particulars we are entirely ignorant. 
They appear, however, to be very different from any thing 
I have been able to observe in the history of the Mexican 
idolatry. 

In Honduras, the natives held a tradition concerning the 
origin of their religious institutions, which involves some 
very curious particulars, and which perhaps, will throw some 
light upon a feature observed in the history of paganism, 
that has not a little embarrassed the speculations of many 
writers upon idolatrous antiquity. As every thing that tends 
to elucidate the mysteries of paganism is both interesting 
and important, we subjoin the following relation of Herrera, 
(Hist. Amer. iv. 137.) 

"All that could be learned of the antiquities of this pro- 
vince, (Cerquin) is the tradition delivered by old men, that 
two hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards, a 
lady came thither whose name was Comizagual, (flying ti- 
ger.) They said, she was white like a Spaniard, skilled in 
art magic, and settled at Cesaloquin, the most fruitful soil in 
that province, where the stones and lion's faces they wor- 
shipped were, and the great stone with three points, on 
each of which are three hideous faces; and some of them 
say, that lady brought it thither through the air, and that by 
virtue thereof she gained battles and extended her domi- 
nions; that she had three sons without being married, though 
others say they were her brothers, and that she never knew 
man; and that being grown old she divided her lands among 
them, with much good advice for the government of their 
subjects, that she ordered her bed to be brought out of the 
house, and there came a great flash of lightning with thun- 
der, and they saw a most beautiful bird flying, and she never 
more appearing, they concluded it to be the lady soaring up to 
heaven, &c. The three brothers then divided the province 
of Cerquin among themselves, and governed it very politi- 
cally, the inhabitants being brave and warlike. The lady 



320 



OF THE NATIONS 



Comizagual being a magician practised much sorcery, and 
consequently introduced what religions and superstitions she 
thought fit among the people. Among the many idols they 
worshipped, there was one called the great father, and another 
the great mother, v &c. 

We perceive in the foregoing tradition, some of those 
features of a triune worship and history, which also observ- 
ed in various other parts of the ancient pagan world, has ex- 
ceedingly perplexed all writers to explain so curious a cir- 
cumstance. From its apparent conformity with a dogma of 
the christian religion, it is not surprising that much attention 
has been paid to the subject, and that various conjectures 
have been hazarded, to explain how the pagan nations of an- 
tiquity became possessed of so mysterious a doctrine. But 
notwithstanding appearances, we do not conceive that the 
ideas of the pagans on this subject, have any connexion with 
a religious faith: but that they are based upon historical tra- 
ditions of events connected with the first ages of the world, 
to which the Honduras tradition seems to allude, as express- 
ly as any other relation we have seen in the mythological 
histories of either continent. 

The appearance of a triad in pagan theology, has been ob- 
served among the Hindoos, Chinese, Persians, Canaanites, 
Syrians, Goths, Celts, &c. For the purpose of a general 
reference, see Faber, Orig. Pag. Idol. iii. 469. We were en- 
tirely embarrassed to explain the circumstance, until the 
Rev. Mr. Faber's profound and elaborate work on the Ori- 
gin of Pagan Idolatry, came into our hands. We appre- 
hend, that he has shewn with the greatest plausibility, if not 
with absolute truth, that the pagan triads originated in the 
history of Adam and his three sons, but more especially in 
that of Noah and his three sons. As we cannot lay before 
our readers Mr. Faber's arguments upon this point, which 
are scattered through the various chapters of his great work, 
we shall alone extract his general views or conclusions aris- 
ing out of the examination of the subject. (Faber, Orig. 
Pag. Idol. i. 16, 17.) 

"Adam and Noah were each the father of three sons; and 
to the persons of the latter of these triads, by whose descen- 
dants the world was repeopled, the whole habitable earth 
was assigned in a three fold division. This truth, though it 
sometimes appears in its naked and undisguised form, was 
usually wrapped up by the hierophants in the cloak of the 
most profound mystery. Hence instead of plainly saying, 
that the mortal who had flourished in the golden age, and 
who was venerated as the universal demon father both of 



INHABITING- GUATEMALA. 



321 



gods and men, was the parent of three sons, they were wont 
to declare, that the great father had wonderfully triplicated 
himself. 

' 'Pursuing this vein of mysticism, they industriously con- 
trived to obscure the triple division of the habitable globe 
among the sons of Noah, just as much as the characters of 
the three sons themselves. A very ancient notion univer- 
sally prevailed, that some such triple division had once 
taken place; and the hierophants when they had elevated 
Noah and his three sons to the rank of deity, proceeded to 
ring a variety of corresponding changes upon that cele- 
brated threefold distribution. Noah was esteemed the uni- 
versal sovereign of the world; but, when he branched out 
into three kings, (i. e. triplicating himself into his three 
sons) that world was to be divided into three kingdoms, or 
(as they were sometimes styled) three worlds. To one of 
these kings was assigned the empire of heaven; to another, 
the empire of the earth including the nether regions of Tar- 
tarus; to a third, the empire of the ocean, &c. 

"So again; when Noah became a god, the attributes of 
deity were inevitably ascribed to him, otherwise, he would 
plainly have become incapable of supporting his new charac- 
ter: yet even in the ascription of such attributes, the genuine 
outlines of his history were never suffered to be wholly for- 
gotten. He had witnessed the destruction of one world, the 
new creation of another, (rather the regeneration?) and the 
oath of God, that he would surely preserve mankind from 
the repetition of such a calamity as the deluge. Hence, 
when he was worshipped as a hero-god, he was revered in 
the triple character of the destroyer, the creator, and the 
preserver, &c. And when he was triplicated into three cog- 
nate divinities, were produced three gods, different, yet 
fundamentally the same, one mild though awful as the 
creator; another gentle and benificent as the preserver; a 
third, sanguinary, ferocious, and implacable, as the de- 
stroyer. " 

In vol. iii. 474, where this subject is again discussed, the 
reverend author observes, "that the origin of the pagan 
triads was such as I have supposed it to be, is yet further 
evident from the circumstance of their being composed of 
goddesses, as well as gods. As the great father multiplied 
himself into three sons, so the great mother, in a similar 
manner multiplied herself into three daughters," &c. 

We cannot but regret that the nature and limits of our 
work prevent a more extended view of this curious and in- 
teresting subject, as analysed by Mr. Faber. We apprehend, 



S22 



OP THE NATIONS 



however, enough has been extracted, to shew how plausible 
are his views, and how happily they accord with one of the 
triune features of the Guatemalan tradition, which has refer- 
red to the triple partition of the province of Cerquin, among 
the three brothers or sons, what properly belongs to the an- 
cient history of the post diluvian world. 

The people of Nicaragua and Veragua, appear to have 
had some other general ideas of the early history of the 
world; for we find in Herrera, {Hist Jlmer. ii. 132. iii. 
284,) that they surprised the Spaniards by speaking of the 
deluge, &c. These matters, however, are so slightly men- 
tioned by them, that we cannot make any further use of the 
facts than the bare quotation. 

Notwithstanding the curious and interesting subjects with 
which this chapter has abounded, we apprehend, there is a 
circumstance yet to mention, that will excite greater surprise 
than any other hitherto related; and that is, that the cross, 
that great symbol of Christianity, was worshipped in Yucatan 
and other parts of America, long prior to the discovery by 
Columbus. 

Though this symbol as an object of superstitious reverence, 
was observed by the Spaniards in the kingdom of Mexico 
when that country fell under their dominion, yet we had no 
such particular description of it, as would have justified our 
speaking of it in the extensive manner we intend to do at 
the present time. 

The first account in any detail, concerning the adoration 
of the cross among any aboriginal people of America, is 
found in Herrera, who has given us the following relation. 
{Hist. Amer. ii. 121.) 

At the foot of a temple in the island of Cozumel, Grijalva 
observed "an enclosure of lime and stone, with battlements 
and plastered, and in the midst of it a cross of white lime 
(stone, or marble,) three yards high, which they held to be 
the god of rain, being very confident they never wanted it 
when they devoutly begged it of the same. Crosses after 
the same manner and painted, were found in other parts of 
this island, and many in Yucatan, yet none of laton or tin, 
as Gomara writes, but of stone and wood." 

When these crosses of Yucatan were first discovered to 
be reverenced among the Indians, (A. D. 1518,) they do not 
appear to have had any tradition concerning the origin of 
that superstition; for Gomara says, "it could not be known 
how these Indians came to have so much devotion towards 
the holy cross, there being no footsteps of the gospel having 
been ever preached at Cozumel, or in any other part of the 
Indies." 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



323 



Nine years after the voyage of Grijalva, however, the fol- 
lowing legend was communicated to the Spaniards, accord- 
ing to Herrera, ii. 122.* "In the province of the Tutuxius, 
(Yucatan) the capital whereof is the town of Mini, fourteen 
leagues from the place where the city of Merida now stands, 
the Spaniards were informed, that but a few years before 
their arrival, a principal Indian priest whose name was Chi- 
lam Cambal, looked upon among them as a great prophet, 
told them, that within a short time, there would come from 
that part where the sun rises, a white people with beards, 
that would raise up the sign of the cross, which he showed 
them, saying their gods would not be able to withstand, but 
would fly before it, and that those people would subdue the 
country, doing no harm to such as should peaceably submit 
to them, and that they would leave their idols and adore one 
only God, whom those men worshipped, &c. He also 
caused a stone cross to be made, and set up in the court of 
the temple, that it might be seen, saying it was the true tree 
of the world, and abundance of people went to see it as a 
novelty, and from that time paid a veneration to it," &c. 

Though I apprehend, this whole tradition to be an inven- 
tion of the Spaniards, or a perversion of some ancient reci- 
tal of the people of Yucatan; yet I have thought proper to 
make the extract, that the reader might be able as far as I 
possess materials, to come to a just knowledge of the singular 
fact under consideration. 

I presume, that no one will suppose Chilam Cambal to have 
been sufficiently inspired, to have foreseen or foretold the 
events above related of him; though it may with some plau- 
sibility be conjectured, that he either directly or indirectly, 
had acquired some such general ideas from European catho- 
lics, that may have been wrecked on the coasts of Yucatan, 
previous to the discovery of America by Columbus. 

I think, however, that as far as Chilam Cambal may be con- 
cerned in the history of the crosses of America, that the 
tradition related by Herrera is entirely unsatisfactory; for 
according to him {Hist. Jlmer. iv. 165, 7, 8,) he lived but 
about twenty years before the Spaniards arrived in Yucatan; 
which is altogether insufficient to explain the origin of the 
worship of the cross, not only in divers places of Yucatan,, 
but also in the kingdom of Mexico, and in Peru, where 
Garcilazo de la Vega informs us one was kept in the sanctu- 

* Nevertheless, this tradition was either so little known, or esteemed so 
apocryphal, that Gomara who published hi3 work A. D. 1553, or twenty-six 
years after the time that Herrera quotes, was either ignorant of it or rejected 
it as improbable. Herrera expresses some surprise at this omission. 



324 



OF THE NATIONS 



ary of the temple at Cuzco. (Roy. Comment, 30.) It is 
therefore seemingly incredible, that the influence of any few 
individuals could have extended to such a distance in the 
short space of twenty years. 

The Abbe Clavigero {Hist, of Mexico, ii. 14, note) makes 
the following enumeration of the places at which crosses 
were found in America, which undoubtedly is short of the 
real number.* "The crosses the most celebrated, are those 
of Yucatan, of Mizteca, Queretaro, Tepique, and Tianquiz- 
tepec. Those of Yucatan are mentioned by Father Cogol- 
ludo a Franciscan, in his History, book ii. chap. 12. The 
cross of Mizteca, is taken notice of by Boturini in his work, 
and in the chronicle of Father Burgoa, a Dominican. 
There is an account of the crosses of Queretaro, written by 
a Franciscan of the college of Propaganda in that city; and 
of that of Tepique, by the learned Jesuit Sigismund Tarabal, 
whose manuscripts are preserved in the Jesuit college of 
Guadalajora. That of Tianquiztepec, was discovered by 
Boturini, and is mentioned in his work," &c. 

As the above authors cited by Clavigero, are entirely be- 
yond my reach, I am unable to state whether they report 
any tradition concerning these crosses analogous to that of the 
Yucatanese as related by Herrera. The only use 1 can make 
of this enumeration, which it will be seen is of some indi- 
rect importance, is to shew the relative situation of the places 
mentioned, which we w T ill attempt to ascertain in round 
numbers, from Pinkerton's map. (Middle Part of Spanish 
N. t#. Dominions.) 

From the city of Merida, (in Yucatan) the country of 
Chilam Cambal, to Queretaro, the distance is most probably 
above a thousand miles; but measured by straight lines, it is 
about nine hundred miles. Queretaro is in lat. 20° 45' N., 
Ion. 100° 10' "W., and about one hundred miles north from 
the city of Mexico. 

Mizteca, lays in a S. E direction from Mexico, about one 
hundred and seventy miles distant. 

Tepique, hy which I suppose Tepeaca is meant, is about 
one hundred miles distant from the city of Mexico, in a di- 
rection a little south of east. 

* There is at least a relievo cross at the ruins near Palenque; for in the 
largest and most interesting plate to Del Rio's Memoir, one is represented 
highly decorated in the Indian style, and on each side of it stand two well 
drawn figures of men, one of whom holds towards the cross a living infant. 
The hieroglyphic characters represented in our 301 page, are behind this 
last personage; presumably a priest 

There is nothing in the least degree of European style or character in the 
composition of this singular group. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



325 



I have not been able to locate Tianqueztepec exactly; but 
think, that probably by this Indian name, Teguantepec (N. 
lat. 16° 20' and W. long. 95°) is meant, as spelt in our maps. 
If this should be the place mentioned by Clavigero, it is 
about five hundred miles distant from Merida, and three 
hundred and fifty from Mexico, lying as it were in a man- 
ner between these two points. 

I apprehend, therefore, from the great distances between 
the respective places mentioned by Clavigero, that the ado- 
ration of the cross was a superstition very widely extended 
throughout Mexico and Guatemala, at a period long anterior 
to the arrival of the Spaniards in America under the com- 
mand of Columbus. For it is not only improbable, that 
such an object would be suddenly received and worshipped 
by so many different pagan nations almost constantly at war 
with one another, but it is also unparalleled in the history of 
the missions of the Roman Catholics in any part of the 
world; and I cannot believe, that they were in any manner 
remiss in urging the reception of such an object of venera- 
tion and certainly with much greater probabilities of suc- 
cess, than can be acceded to any persons who we may sup- 
pose had been wrecked on the American coast. 

But by thus carrying the fact of the worship of the cross 
among the people of Mexico and Guatemala, back into the 
remote and obscure ages of their history, where every sub- 
ject is overwhelmed apparently with an impenetrable dark- 
ness; is it the less evident, that the superstition was primari- 
ly of European origin? For a thousand years previous to the 
voyage of Columbus, the cross had been an object of religious 
veneration throughout Christendom; and during that time, 
numerous instances may have occurred of vessels navigated 
by Europeans, having been driven by the fury of tem- 
pests across the Atlantic ocean to the shores of America. I 
at once avow, that I should explain the origin of the Guate- 
malan crosses by such an hypothesis, was I not aware that 
the same mysterious symbol, was also an object of religious 
veneration among some of the most renowned nations of an- 
tiquity, long anterior to the incarnation of our Redeemer. As 
I have not been able to find any tradition of European agen- 
cy in establishing the worship of the cross in America, 
and as it is an undoubted fact, that it was venerated by the an 
cient pagans of Asia and Africa prior to the advent, I cannot 
but pause and hesitate on the question of its origin in Ame- 
rica; and especially so, when we consider that the Guatema- 
lan nations, or the Toltecas, or whoever inhabited that king- 
dom, were certainlv the most civilized and enlightened peo- 
42 



326 



OF THE NATIONS 



pie of America, and as far as I can perceive, were little if any- 
wise inferior to some of those pagan nations of antiquity,: 
with whom the cross was undoubtedly an object of religious 
or mysterious regard. 

But as I am aware, that an opinion which supposes the 
cross to have been venerated by ancient pagans, irrespective 
of any communication with Christianity, will appear singular 
to many persons, it will be but fair and proper to inquire 
more particularly into the history of the crosses of America, 
and as far as our means permit, to ascertain whether this su- 
perstition be indeed so much overwhelmed in the obscurity 
of time, or so much embarrassed with circumstances of dif- 
ficult explanation, as to require a solution in the hypothesis 
of an origin independent of Christianity. 

Setting aside the prejudice of considering the mere fact of 
the cross being found in America a proof of its christian 
origin, I know of no tradition, that either directly or indi- 
rectly countenances such a belief; and the Spaniards upon 
whom the fact made a great impression, have related nothing 
concerning its history, except the tradition of Chilam Cam- 
bal which we have already mentioned, and shewed to be fu- 
tile at least, if it be not also of Spanish invention. 

The Spanish priests could frame no other theory on this 
subject but to suppose that St. Thomas had in the apostolic 
ages, in some extraordinary manner visited America, and 
there preached the gospel to the natives. This very arbitra- 
ry hypothesis no one can for a moment admit. But the for- 
mation of such an opinion by the Spaniards seems to shew 
almost conclusively, that the aborigines of the country did 
not retain any traditional history on the subject that would 
justify the simple belief, that Catholic Europeans had ever 
possessed influence enough among them to have established 
so important a feature in their superstitious observances. 

Some persons, however, who may have perused the History 
of Guatemala by Juarros, may consider the account that wri- 
ter has given us of the antiquities of Copan, to prove that 
Spaniards or other Europeans, had to a greater or less degree 
exercised their influence in Guatemala before the voyage of 
Columbus, and that in this fact, we have a circumstance ex- 
plaining the origin of the worship of the cross in this king- 
dom. 

This relation of Juarros, which is very interesting, is ex- 
tremely brief in the description of the particular subjects 
there represented. We shall in the following extract, fur- 
nish the reader with all the information we have been able 
to collect on these singular antiquities. Copan is situated 
near the city of Gracias a Dios, lat. 15° N. long. 88° 10' W~ 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



327 



Juarros {Hist. Guat. 56,) relates, "Francisco de Fuentes, 
who wrote the chronicles of this kingdom, assures us that in 
his time, A. D. 1700, the great circus of Copan still remain- 
ed entire. This was a circular space surrounded by stone 
pyramids about six yards high, and very well constructed; 
at the bases of these pyramids, were figures both male and 
female of very excellent sculpture, which then retained the 
colours they had been enamelled with, and what was not 
less remarkable, the whole of them were habited in the 
Castilian costume. In the middle of this area, elevated 
above a flight of steps, was the place of sacrifice. The 
same author reports, that at a short distance from the circus, 
there was a portal constructed of stone, on the columns of 
which were the figures of men likewise represented in Spa- 
nish habits, with hose, ruffs round the neck, sword, cap, and 
short cloak. On entering the gateway, there are two fine 
stone pyramids, moderately large and lofty, from which is 
suspended a hammock that contains two human figures, one 
of each sex clothed in the Indian style. Astonishment is 
forcibly excited on viewing this structure; because, large as 
it is, there is no appearance of the component parts being 
joined together, and although entirely of stone and of an 
enormous weight, it may be put in motion by the slightest 
impulse of the hand. Not far from this hammoek, is the 
cave of Tibulca,' 5 &c. 

If we could be certain, that the figures above described 
were really dressed in the costume of Spaniards, it would 
tend materially to justify the supposition that the crosses of 
Guatemala might have been derived from an European 
source. But though it would be presumptuous in me to de- 
ny the fact, I cannot but hesitate to receive it implicitly; for 
the Spanish writers on America, have been very hasty, and 
often very inaccurate in making their comparisons. Noth- 
ing of a similar kind is elsewhere related by Juarros, Del 
Rio, Herrera, or Bernal Dias:* which when we consider how 
puzzled the Spaniards were to explain the history of the 
Guatemalan crosses, induces me to think, that there exists 
some mistake in the description of the figures of men and 
women, at Copan, and that Fuentes has assumed for Spa- 
niards, statutes or relievos of Indian personages, who in this 
kingdom certainly wore caps and mantles, though they did 
not use swords. 

But if we admit, that the figures are really those of Spa- 

* It may be well to observe, that none of these writers but Juarros, or his 
author Fuentes, have made any mention of the antiquities at Copan. 



328 



OF THE NATIONS 



niards, I presume the monuments of Copan shew that they 
were not erected by any independent European influence, 
but that the artists were subordinate to Indian authority; for 
the works in question are in the Indian style and manner, 
and not in that of Europeans, and therefore the fabricators 
were but mechanics or labourers, and could have enjoyed no 
very material influence among the natives. 

I do not consider it altogether fair to urge negative proofs 
against the supposition of European agency in the construc- 
tion of these antiquities, yet we should not altogether ne- 
glect their use, and we therefore observe, there is no account 
of letters being observed among these Indians, nor iron, nor 
any of those arts, which particularly belong to European 
civilization. But then again it may be said, that seamen, 
ignorant of such matters had been wrecked on these shores, 
who were able to teach the worship of the cross,* and cut 
stone statutes or relievos; which would designate either 
their saints, or themselves individually as Europeans among 
Indians. 

Yet the only instance, in which we assuredly know that 
Europeans were wrecked on the coast of Guatemala, oppo- 
ses the idea that they ever received even good treatment 
from the natives. Nor can I conceive, how any individuals 
arriving in circumstances of distress from the perils of the 
sea, hungry, thirsty, naked, badly clad, and just escaped 
with life, should be able afterwards to exercise an influence 
over the natives, in the manner that the pride of Europeans 
has generally supposed. It is true, that when such persons 
arrived in large ships, with fire arms, and other matters of 
European civilization, they were no doubt at first regarded 
as a superior race of beings. But this was not the case with 
shipwrecked mariners, who wanting these imposing appear- 
ances, would in other respects be inferior to the Indians 
themselves; and unless their ships or vessels had been wreck- 
ed altogether, or at least rendered unseaworthy, I presume 
they would never have remained in these unknown regions, 
cut off from all intercourse with civilized society. t 

* Juarros, does not say there was any representation of the cross at Copan. 

T The history of Aguilar and his companions, who were wrecked on the 
coast of Yucatan in attempting to sail from Darien to St. Domingo, and who 
vras delivered from his captivity by Cortez, is extremely valuable in illus- 
trating our observations. In making this voyage, when near the island of 
Jamaica, the vessel "was cast away on the Alligator shoals, at which time 
twenty men with much difficulty got into the long boat without sails, bread, 
or water, and very bad oars. Seven of their crew soon died, and the others 
landed in a province called Maya, (Yucatan) where they fell into the hands 
of a cruel cacique, who sacrificed Valdivia, (their leader) and four others, 
offering them up to his idols and then eating them, keeping a festival. Agui- 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



329 



With the little information we possess of the antiquities of 
Guatemala, all I can admit to be proved by the monuments 
of Copan, supposing they really exhibit European figures, 
is, that some shipwrecked seamen may have been preserved 
and protected by some cacique of Honduras, who employed 
them in carving and ornamenting the circus of Copan, as it is 
called by Fuentes. But beyond this, I do not see that they 
have exercised any influence, and it is requiring too much 
from us to concede that the crosses of Queretaro, nine hun- 
dred miles distant, may have proceeded from the influence 
of a few Europeans at Copan, and where we have no account 
that the cross enters into the composition of the figures ob- 
served there. 

We again observe, that if the figures of men at Copan, 
are really in the Spanish dress, it is, according to all my re- 
search on the subject, but an insulated instance: for nothing 
similar has been described by any Spanish writer, which I 
presume they would have done were such figures to have 
been observed elsewhere. Nor would they have failed when 
speculating on the discovery of crosses in Guatemala, to have 
explained that fact by so palpable a source of origin. The 
judicious Herrera, historiographer to the king of Spain, had 
certainly the very best opportunity of reading and examin- 
ing the various Spanish writers on America; and yet he 
mentions no other history of the origin of the cross, but the 
legend of Chilam Cambal, which he considered more satis- 
factory than that of St. Thomas, in elucidating the history 
of that superstition. 

I must also observe, that the belief of Europeans being 

lar and six others, who were shut up in a pen or coop to serve for another 
festival, resolved to lose their lives some other way, and breaking the cage, 
fled over the mountains till they came into the dominions of another lord, 
who was an enemy to the former cacique. This one granted them their 
lives but made slaves of them. Five of Aguilar's companions soon died 
through the hardships they endured; he only remaining with one Gonzalo 
Guerrero, who had married a prime lady of the country by whom he had 
children; he was then commander for a cacique, and having obtained many 
victories over his lord's enemies was much beloved and esteemed." He re- 
fused to leave the country when sent for by Cortez, according to Aguilar's 
supposition, "from shame, because his nose, lips, and ears, were bored, his 
face painted, and his hands wrought, (tatooed) after the manner of the 
country." 

Proceeding in the account of his own adventures, he said, "he had en- 
dured very much during the first three years, being obliged to carry wood, 
water, and fish for his lord, which he performed with much satisfaction to 
save his life; doing what every Indian commanded him, by which means he 
gained the affections of them all," &c. "He also was employed in their 
wars, and had gained the reputation of being considered a prime man in the 
country," &c. However he took the first opportunity to escape and join his 
countrymen. (Herrera, ii. 173.) 



330 



OF THE NATIONS 



able by their superior civilization to exercise a great influ- 
ence upon a barbarous people, as far as I can perceive in 
American history, is not a correct one; or if some partial 
instances have occurred, though I am ignorant of any such, 
it will not establish the general fact.* 

From every narrative I can remember to have perused, 
the American Indians when not awed by the appearance of 
superior force, acted upon the old Roman maxim that "a 
stranger was an enemy;" for whenever the Spaniards made 
their appearance on their coasts, they were met with bands 
of armed men who attempted to repulse them; and it was 
not until they had experienced, according to a common 
phrase of Herrera, "the sharpness of the Spanish swords," 
or heard the report of their fire arms, and experienced the 
injuries of the shot, that they looked upon the European in- 
vaders as a superior race; and even after this knowledge they 
did not submit peaceably. Thus for a single instance; Cor- 
tez would never have been able to have conquered Mexico, 
though he had with him nearly two thousand European 
troops.t with artillery, and cavalry, unless he had been also 
assisted by eighty thousand and more Indians, previously 
inimical to the Mexican state. 

In the relations of the different voyages made to the Pa- 
cific ocean, and North West coast of America, we find the va- 
rious islanders and natives constantly attacking the boats 
and ships of the European navigators, under all those im- 
posing appearances they are supposed to possess in the eyes 
of the Indians; as Cook, La Peyrouse, Vancouver, and en- 
suing voyagers, have abundantly experienced. Can we 
then believe, that individuals who were dependent on Indian 
humanity for the very safety of their lives, could have ex- 
erted so great an influence among them as to have establish- 

* Guerrero, the companion of Aguilar, is said to have gained honour and 
reputation among the Indians of Yucatan; but how? Not as an European 
artist, or missionary, but as a brave warrior, who fought like the bravest 
Indian, and by which he acquired the privilege of boring his ears, nose, and 
lips. He therefore became one of them, the converse of making them to 
be like himself Bernal Dias (Conquest of Mexico, 35,) has recorded the 
speech he made to Aguilar, when solicited by him to join Cortez, which is 
in the following emphatic words. "Brother Aguilar. I am married, I have 
three sons, and am a cacique and captain in the wars; go you in God's name; 
my face is marked, and my ears bored; what would the Spaniards think of 
me if I went among them? Behold these three beautiful boys; I beseech you 
give me for them some of these green beads, and say that my brother sent 
them as a present to me from our country." 

f Including the forces of Narvaez. (Clavig. Hist Mex. ii. 395.) Of this 
number many were slain in different battles. But when Cortez undertook 
the siege of Mexico, his force according 1 to Clavigero, (Hist Mex. iii. 35.) 
was nine hundred and seventeen Spaniards, and above seventy-seven thou- 
sand Indians. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



331 



@d a new mode of idolatry, when wanting, as shipwrecked 
seamen, every advantage belonging to civilized life, and in 
their destitute condition, inferior to the natives in their 
means of procuring subsistence, clothing, or shelter. Neith- 
er is it an impertinent question to ask, what proportionate 
number of a hundred sailors, for instance, were ever suffici- 
ently devout to act the part of missionaries even when their 
situation may have afforded the opportunity? The history 
of the South sea islands, speaks volumes against the suppo- 
sition, that either morality or devotion ever attended their 
visits.* 

It is also a matter of some importance, to bear in mind 
that the Atlantic coasts of Mexico and Guatemala, are the 
most unlikely parts of all America to which storm driven 
vessels could be carried; for from the peninsula of Florida 
to the mouths of the Orinoco, the West India islands with 
all their keys, rocks, banks, &c, lay in the form of a bow,, 
so as naturally to intercept any vessel that might be forced 
in this direction from the European coasts 

Yet as I have previously stated, this superstition of wor- 
shipping the cross observed in America, would still under 
every circumstance of perplexity be referred to an European 
origin, did we not know that this symbol was more or less 
directly honoured by several pagan nations of antiquity 
prior to the advent of our Redeemer, to which remarkable 
fact we must, now call the attention of our readers. 

It is a circumstance well known to all investigators of 
Egyptian antiquities, that the cross is constantly represented 
on their monuments. It is on their obelisks, on the walls of 
temples, and in the hands of their deities. The amulets, 
representing beetles and other sacred animals which this 
superstitious people wore on their necks, are also frequently 
impressed with this symbol. 

The Egyptian cross, is technically known by the name of 
Crux ansata, or cross with a ring or handle, being com- 
monly represented in this manner, O as if the ring on the 
top was for a handle. f 

* Peter Martyr, (Hackluyt, W. Indies, 26,) gives us the following account 
of the companions of Columbus; which I presume, to have been the general 
character of mariners in that age. "That kind of men which followed the 
admiral (Columbus) in the navigation, were for the most part unruly, re- 
garding nothing but idleness, play, and liberty, (licentiousness) and would 
by no means abstain from injuries; ravishing the women of the islands be- 
fore the faces of their fathers, husbands, and brethren, and by their abomi- 
nable misdemeanours they disquieted the minds of all the inhabitants, inso- 
much, that whensoever they found any of our men unprepared, they slew 
them with such fierceness and gladness, as though they had offered sacrifice 
to God." 



332 



OF THE NATIONS 



It would be entirely unnecessary for us to enumerate the 
various monuments where this symbol is to be observed; 
the general fact is sufficiently well known, and so common 
is its appearance among Egyptian antiquities, that Jablonski 
{Panth. Egypt, i. 282,) says, "there was no temple, in 
which the figure of the Crux ansata might not be seen, 
and which is yet constantly to be observed in the ruins of 
Egyptian temples. In the Isiac table, the greater part of 
the gods and goddesses may be seen ornamented with this 
figure. And that the Egyptian priests were also accustomed 
to bear it about them, may be seen in the elegant plates of 
the Roman Museum, edited by La Chausse." 

The ancient Phoenician goddess Astarte, the Ashteroth of 
the Scriptures, is very commonly represented on the Sido- 
nian coins with a long cross in her arms, such as we see the 
Roman catholics use in their processions. I have copied the 
following medals, from the few numismatic plates that have 
fallen under my examination, and which are highly inter- 
esting, not only from the prominence with which the cross 
is represented, but also from the circumstance, that we have 
the dates on the medals, by which we can ascertain their ex- 
act age. 



No. l. No. 2. No. s. 




No. 1, is dated 25th year of the Selucidae, which com- 
mencing 312 years before Christ, shews this coin to have 
been struck B. C. 287 years. In like manner we ascertain 
the date of No. 2, to be B. C. 282; and No. 3, B. C. 122.* 
No. 1 and 2 are from Pellerin, Med. des Villes et de Peu- 
ples, plate lxxxii. No. 3, is from Pellerin, Med. des Rois, 
plate xii. 

* It may be a satisfaction to some of my readers to be informed, that the 
dates on these coins are to be read according to the Greek system of nota- 
tion, thus on No. 1 are the letters L.EK. The L signifies year (Auxa§«s) 
E is 5, K is 20; i.e. year 25. No. 2 is read in the same manner, L year, A 
30; i. e. year 30. No. 3, has the word year represented by E, the innitial 
letter of Etos, and the number is q p, the first expressing 90, and the lat- 
ter 100; in other words, year 190. These dates deducted from 312, the era 
of the Selucidae, gives the year before Christ. 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



333 



The following medal was struck at Sidon in the reign of 
Aurelius. Astarte is here represented standing in a temple 
and elevating a long cross. See WelVs Sac. Geog. Sidon. 




Astarte is represented on the coins of other cities, in a 
similar manner with the long cross. See Well's Sacred 
Geog. Berytos, No. 9. Bostra, No. 14. Caesarea Libani, 1 
and 2, &c. Other instances may be seen in Calmet, Pelle- 
rin, &c. 

In Hindostan, the figure of the cross was so far venerated 
that temples were sometimes built in that form, as those an- 
cient ones of Benares and Matra. {Maurice, Jlnct. Hind. 
i. 249.) In the island of Java according to Raffles, (Hist. 
Java, 19,) there are also ancient Hindu temples built in the 
form of a cross. 

The Druidical temple at New Grange, is also constructed 
in this mystic form. (Faber, Orig. Idol. iii. 267.) 

"It is a fact not less remarkable than well attested," says 
Mr. Maurice, (Indian Jlntiq. vi. 68,) "that the Druids in 
their groves, were accustomed to select the most stately and 
beautiful tree as an emblem of the deity they adored; and 
having cut off the side branches, they affixed two of the larg- 
est of them to the highest part of the trunk, in such a manner 
as that those branches extended on each side like the arms of 
a man, and together with the body presented to the specta- 
tor the appearance of a huge cross; and on the bark in vari- 
ous places was actually inscribed the letter 4* On the right 
arm was inscribed Hesus, on the left, Belenus, ■ and on the 
middle of the trunk, Tharanis." 

Maurice (page 10S,) quotes Borlase, and the express autho- 
rities which he adduces for the truth of this fact. 

From Gen Valancey, (Collect. Hiber. v. 109,) it appears, 
that the symbol of intellectual wisdom among the old Irish, 
was in the form of a cross, or as that antiquary observes, "in 
the form of the Egyptian Tau," which very letter is the ba- 
43 



334 



OP THE NATIONS 



sis of the Crux ansata. The cut he has given us of the 
Irish symbol, is a perfect cross in every particular. 

Concerning these ancient pagan crosses, we have some very 
curious and interesting information to communicate. At a very 
early period after the gospel had been preached in Egypt, 
the attention of the christian priests was sensibly excited by 
frequently perceiving that symbol, connected with the vari- 
ous monuments of that idolatrous land. When some Egyp- 
tian priests who understood the hieroglyphic characters were 
converted to Christianity, they made the following commu- 
nication. (Dr. E. B. Clark, Travels in Egypt, §c. iii. 
72, 73.) "The converted heathens, says Socrates Scholasti- 
cus, explained the symbol, and declared that it signified 
"Life to come." This same fact is also mentioned by Ruf 
finus, Heliod. JEthiop. Sozomen, &c." 

Dr. Young (Recent Discov. in Hierog. 156,) has in his 
specimen 108, given it the more limited signification of Life; 
at which I feel some surprise, considering the preceding in- 
formation was derived directly from Egyptian priests who 
understood the hieroglyphic characters. 

Mr. Champolion (Precis du Syst. Hierog. No. 277,) says 
it signifies Life, or more properly Divine Life, "la vie, 
et plus proprement la vie divine." 

Simple crosses, or those without the ring or handle J, tJb 
continually occur among the Egyptian hieroglyphics. | 0 
Mr. Champolion in the explanation of a remarkable plate of 
hieroglyphical characters, (Precis, &e. 191,) says, it there 
signifies avenger. In this instance it is applied to the god 
Orus or Horus, the avenger of Osiris slain by Typhon the 
evil principle. See also, No. 348 of the plates of the second 
volume, where it is stated to signify supporter or saviour 
"soutien ou sauveur." 

I have not been able to procure the least information con- 
cerning the nature or meaning of the long cross borne by As- 
tarte on the Sidonian medals. It is, however, far from being 
unlikely, that the emblematical or mysterious signification of 
the crux ansata, was attached to it; and very possibly, the 
Egyptian figure is but an abridgement of the one used by 
Astarte. 

I apprehend that the ancient Jews or Arabians, entertained 
a most mysterious notion of this symbol, which will go far 
towards establishing the great antiquity of the superstition of 
venerating this object in the eastern continent, for neither Jew 
nor Mahometan can be supposed to have originated such an 
idea since the christian era. The information I have upon 
this subject is derived from Shaw, (Travels in Barbary and 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



335 



the Levant, 405,) who has made the following extract from 
Kircher, Obel: Pamph. p. 440; a work I have never seen. 
"Figurarn crucis, in cujus capite circulus in modo ansse, ac~ 
cepit Mesra (Misraim) a Chamo, et Cham a Noe et Noe ab 
Enoch, Enoch ab Seth, Seth ab Adamo, Adam ab angelo suo 
Raziel. Cham vero ope ejus fecit mirabilia magna et ab eo 
accepit Hermes, et posuit eum inter literas avium; est au- 
tem hie character signum processus motusque spiritus mundi: 
et fuit magicum sigillum et secretum in telesmatis eorum, et 
annulus contra demones et malignas potestates. (Abeneph:)" 
I am unable to state who this person was whose name is 
abridged in the above quotation, (Abeneph:) or whether he was 
a Jew or Arabian, but I presume he was a cabalistic Jew. 
The literati of Europe, to whom Kircher's works and the 
authors to whom he refers are accessible, can easily ascertain; 
my ignorance of all these particulars, prevents my using the 
information contained in the extract but in the most indirect 
manner. 

If this writer (Abeneph:) was a christain, his declara- 
tion, unless supported by respectable ancient authorities can- 
not be deemed of any importance. But if he was a Jew or 
a Mahometan, I apprehend, it is of great moment: for I 
cannot conceive that either the one or the other would have 
invented a tradition, which indirectly at least, honours the 
great symbol of the christian faith, and that through the hands 
of some of the most illustrious personages of Jewish history, 
until it is derived from an angelic, or divine source.* 

If therefore Abeneph: be a Jew or Mahometan, I consider 
the tradition he has related, to be one entertained among the 
ancient people of his race prior to the advent, and however it 
may be now involved in an extravagant tradition, it testifies 
that the sign or symbol of the cross, was held by them in the 
remotest times as an object of great and mysterious significa- 
tion. 

But however we may err concerning the authority of this 
writer, the fact itself is undoubtedly established by the his- 
tory of the Egyptian monuments, and the inspection of the 
Sidonian medals; both of which remount to centuries before 
the advent of our Redeemer. 

We presume, we have now shewn sufficient reason, to jus- 
tify our hesitation concerning the crosses of Yucatan and 

*The Talmudic Rabbis (Purchas Pilg. v. 178,) says, "that when Adam was 
exceedingly dejected with remorse of his sin, God sent the angel Raziel to 
tell him, that there should be one of his progeny which should have the four 
letters of Jehovah in his name, and should expiate original sin." 



336 



OF THE NATIONS 



Mexico, whether they were of christian origin or whether 
they were not connected with the earliest system of postdi- 
luvian idolatry; with which we have in certain instances un- 
doubtedly shewn, the demi-civilized people of America have 
had a direct and immediate participation. 

But whence was this symbol derived among the pagans of 
antiquity, which signifies, emblematically or metaphorically, 

LIFE, LIFE TO COME, SAVIOUR, KNOWLEDGE OR WISDOM, A 

talisman against evil spirits, &c? The mind is apparent- 
ly bewildered in a maze of conjectures. In a future page, 
we shall again resume the consideration of this subject, when 
other matters arising out of our general inquiry will enable 
us to investigate the fact with greater advantage than is afford- 
ed at the present time; and during the interval we leave the 
question without prejudice, to the meditation of the reader. 

On the Origin of the Civilization of the People of Guate- 
mala. 

We have now mentioned every particular concerning the 
history of the Guatemalan nations, according to our materials, 
that seemed either necessary in establishing their national 
character as a demi-civilized people, or as elucidating those 
curious subjects which have been observed to be connected 
with their history and institutions. Every part of our ex- 
amination has tended to shew, that generally speaking, they 
were superior to any other aboriginal people of our conti- 
nent, and this circumstance gives rise to the following que- 
ry: Are we to consider their civilization as having been de- 
rived from the Toltecks? or may there not have been other 
demi-civilized people in this part of America, anterior to, or 
coeval with that celebrated nation, and who independent of 
them communicated a certain light of science and arts to both 
Mexico and Guatemala. 

The traditions of these latter people, as far as we have been 
able to examine them seem to point out an evident connec- 
tion with the history of Mexico; and the times in which they 
are reported to have emigrated to the different provinces of 
Guatemala, accords with the Mexican tradition of the time 
when the Toltecan monarchy in Anahuac was dissolved, and 
their population dispersed among the adjoining nations. 

Their system of astronomy was also used in Guatemala, 
and 1 presume their form of idolatry also, as appears from 
certain incidental notices given in the writings of Herrera, 
Juarros, &c. 

As respects their languages, we are unable to speak, hav- 
ing no information whereby we can make the comparison. 



INHABITING GAUTEMALA. 



337 



In their hieroglyphic system, some of the Guatemalan na- 
tions at least, were much superior to the Mexicans, whom 
we consider to have derived their knowledge from the Tol- 
tecas in that particular. 

In the mechanical arts exercised in the two kingdoms of 
Mexico and Guatemala, we may suppose a great similarity; 
yet I believe there are no architectural monuments of the 
former country, comparable either in number or magnitude, 
with those of the latter; and it is evident, that the further 
south we go from the city of Mexico towards Guatemala, the 
ancient monuments appear to be of superior workmanship; 
such, for instance, are the fort or monument of Xochicalco, the 
palace of Mitla, &c. The people also of the southern pro- 
vinces of Mexico, appear more ingenious and polished than 
those of the proper land of Anahuac, as may be inferred from 
the partial accounts we have received of the people of Oaxa- 
ca, e Mizteca, Tarasca, &c. 

Now, are all these appearances of demi-civilization to be 
explained by the supposition, that when the Toltecan mon- 
archy was dissolved according to the Mexican tradition, that 
the remains of that demi-civilized people, emigrating in an 
easterly direction as far as lake Nicaragua, imparted the 
knowledge of their science and arts, to the various people 
with whom the individuals of their nation may have found 
protection and hospitality? 

I confess myself embarrassed to give a decided opinion; 
for though the Toltecan monarchy was dissolved according 
to Mexican antiquities, A. D. 1051, which would allow five 
hundred years between that event and the conquest of Guate- 
mala by the Spaniards, (A. D. 1524,) still I apprehend that 
small numbers of such emigrants would not be able to induce 
the ruder tribes with whom they may have taken refuge, to 
adopt habits or institutions different from their own. 

Such an hypothesis will also require a much greater popu- 
lation for the Toltecan monarchy than we can readily admit: 
that is, if we suppose them to have been the original stock 
of the Quiches and the Tutuxius of Yucatan, and the nucleus 
of the population of Chiapa and Nicaragua, all of whom have 
traditions that seemingly refer their origin to the kingdom of 
Mexico. 

We must also remember, that the Olmecs, and Xicalancas, 
the Miztecas, Zapotecks, &c. of the kingdom of Mexico, are 
considered by many writers to have been settled in that re- 
gion prior to the arrival of the Toltecs, and which people 
were also demi-civilized. 

I am inclined therefore to believe, that in times more re- 



338 



OP THE NATIONS 



mote than those attributed to the Toltecas, the southern part 
of the now kingdom of Mexico, and the more northern parts 
of Guatemala, were inhabited by several demi-civilized peo- 
ple, possibly of different tribes, but who for aught we know, 
may not have been greatly dissimilar to the Toltecks in their 
kind and degree of civilization. 

The Tolteck empire in Anahuac, being but one of the 
demi-civilized nations of Mexico and Guatemala, may have 
been dissolved in the manner we have related in our chapter 
on Mexico, and the remains of their population may have 
been dispersed among the adjoining nations, especially those 
lying to the eastward. But I am disposed to doubt, that 
the Guatemalan traditions, which derive their original from 
that kingdom, were synchronical and dependent upon that 
event. That they came from the kingdom of Mexico imme- 
diately into Guatemala, is I presume, an undoubted fact; but 
in this reference to Mexico, it should be considered only as 
synonymous with saying, they had emigrated from a more 
westerly or northern country: and this may have been done 
long prior to the settlement of the Toltecs in Anahuac. The 
Quiches, it will be remembered, said, they had emigrated 
from that country during the most flourishing times of the 
Toltecas, and that they had previously accompanied them in 
their emigratory march from that unknown northern region 
concerning which we have already spoken in our preceding 
chapter. 

The periods of time about which the emigrations to Guate- 
mala were made, according to the relation of the Spanish his- 
torians, are however certainly in favour of a Toltecan origin; 
but I cannot consider them conclusive, though I have no di- 
rect authority to urge against the statement. Nor would the 
fact have been questioned, did 1 consider that the civiliza- 
tion of the Guatemalans could be fairly derived from the 
Toltecas alone, after the period of the downfall of their em- 
pire, and under those circumstances of calamity with which 
that event is said to have taken place. It appears more na- 
tural to believe, that other nations, prior to, or coeval with 
them, had been established both in Mexico and Guatemala, 
whose demi-civilization, though probably different in certain 
particulars from theirs, was yet, on the whole, not very dis- 
similar. By this opinion, certainly not unplausible, we can 
reconcile every difficulty connected with the history of the 
two kingdoms, which I apprehend cannot be easily done, if 
we consider the Toltecas the only source of the demi-civili- 
. zation that prevailed in these parts of America. 

But having made my exceptions to the common opinion, 



INHABITING GUATEMALA. 



339 



I shall leave the subject to the examination of others, who may 
feel a sufficient interest in the study of Toltecan antiquities 
to make an investigation for which I have neither time, nor 
books, nor opportunity of research. 

With this chapter terminates the Toltecan history, for we 
have not been able distinctly to trace them further eastward 
or southward. Neither the Muyscas of Colombia, nor the 
Peruvians, appear to have had any communication with this 
part of America. Even Comagre,* a cacique on the isthmus 
of Darien, appears to have been more connected with South 
America; for it was from him that the Spaniards first heard 
of the wealth and dominion of the Peruvian Incas, soon des- 
tined to fall under the atrocious invasion of Pizarro. 

It may be, however, that Tolteck civilization extended into 
South America; and, perhaps, the Chancas of ancient Peru, 
(Garc. de la Vega, 115, 177,) and thePanoes of the modern 
kingdom, {Humboldt, Res. i. 174,) proceeded from that 
stock, but this is indeed a bare conjecture. Garcilazo [Roy. 
Comment. 7,) also says, that "Indians from Mexico had 
come in past times, and spread themselves from Panama and 
Darien over those great mountains which run as far as cape 
St. Martha." He seems here to refer to Bias Valera as an 
authority, but it is not clearly expressed. There is seeming- 
ly an etymological confirmation of this statement, in refer- 
ence to the Toltecas, by our perceiving on the maps a dis- 
trict and town named Tolu; situated about half way between 
the gulf of Darien and Carthagena; and there is also a Tola, 

* Comagre and Acla, of whom we have promised some account in a former 
page, were two petty chiefs of small territories on the isthmus of Darien, 
about 120 miles east of Port Bello. At the time they were first discovered 
by the Spaniards, which was before they knew any thing of Mexico, Guate- 
mala, or Peru; their degree of civilization made a considerable impression 
on these invading banditti. We must infer what advances they had made 
from barbarism, by the following account that Herrera (Hist. Jlmer. ii. 6,) 
has preserved of the palace of Comagre. 

"This palace was one hundred and fifty paces in length, and eighty in 
breadth, founded on very large posts, enclosed by a stone wall with timber 
intermixed at the top, and hollow spaces, so beautifully wrought, that the 
Spaniards were amazed at the sight of it. There were in it several chambers 
and apartments, and one that was like a buttery was full of such provisions 
as the country afforded. There was another large room like a cellar, full of 
earthen vessels containing several sorts of white and red liquors made of In- 
dian wheat, (maize) roots, a kind of palm-tree, and other ingredients; the 
which liquors the Spaniards commended when they drank them. There was 
also a very large chamber kept very private, in which were the bodies of 
many dead men, dried up, hanging by cords made of cotton, clothed, and 
covered with rich mantles of the same interwoven with gold and some pearls 
and stones, that were valued among them. These bodies were those of their 
parents, ancestors and relations, whom Comagre highly respected; they were 
parched at the fire that they might be preserved without corruption," 



340 OF THE NATIONS INHABITING GUATEMALA. 

on the Pacific side of the continent, in about 1° N. lat. As 
these names have been applied by the Toltecas, or a kindred 
people, to several cities in Mexico and Guatemala, it is a cir- 
cumstance not unworthy of mention, when we again meet 
them elsewhere. 

The Indians in the vicinity of St. Sebastians, east side of 
the gulf of Darien, said, they had originally come from the 
country beyond the great river of Darien, (the Atrato.) 
Herrera {Hist. Jimer. i. 348,) says, "their women were 
well dressed, and that there were some great merchants 
among them." 



CHAPTER VII. 



OF THE MUYSCAS OF COLOMBIA. 

Among the lofty and abrupt mountains of the northern 
parts of the now Republic of Colombia, formerly resided at 
times long anterior to the discovery of America by the 
Spaniards, several demi-civilized people known by the ap- 
pellations of Moscas or Muyscas, Guanes, Calimas, Panchas, 
&c. ; whose government, polity, and religious institutions, 
were subverted and destroyed at an early period of Europo- 
American history. 

How far the influence of their institutions and religion 
had reached, we are now, from an entire defect of materials, 
unable to state; yet it is most probable, they were very widely 
extended, for rumors and indications of their comparative 
civilization, had reached the Spanish settlements both on the 
shores of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; and induced sev- 
eral military invasions of their country at the very same pe- 
riod of time. 

After the conquest of Peru, an Indian was made prisoner 
by Belalcazar, governor of the province of Quito, who said he 
belonged to a kingdom lying to the N. E., called Cundina- 
marca, (Herrera, v. 15,) which was governed by a powerful 
prince, who had sent him ambassador to Atahualpa the last 
Inca, and in whose dominions he had ever since remained in 
consequence of the civil wars that had just previously agita- 
ted Peru. From this information, no doubt supported by 
other indications, Belalcazar, immediately set on foot a mili- 
tary expedition against the then mountaineers of New Gre- 
nada. 

At the same time, Gonzales Ximenes de Quesada, with a 
considerable force, landed at the mouth of the river Magda- 
lena, and commenced exploring the country through which 
this river descended. He first reached Bogota, Tunja, and 
other establishments of the Muyscas, and may in an especial 
manner be considered their conqueror. 

From Venezuela, an expedition was also fitted out under 
the command of one Federman, who led by exaggerated re- 
ports of adjacent Indians, marched with a third band of ruf- 
fians into the country of the Muyscas. 

Thus, from three different directions were invasions made 
into the mountainous districts of Colombia, and the hapless 
44 



342 



OF THE MUYSCAS 



inhabitants, soon found their country ravaged, their temples 
and the tombs of their forefathers violated, and their govern- 
ment, social institutions, and religion, overwhelmed and de- 
stroyed. 

These cruel and brutal invaders, not only subverted the 
polity and religious institutions of the country by the massacre 
of the inhabitants, and the imposition of a galling yoke; 
but they further wantonly mutilated and destroyed such 
things as they could not understand; and matters highly cu- 
rious and interesting have perished by their not having even 
a vile scribe with them, to record the progress of their 
marches and daily villanies. 

From this circumstance, we are obliged to speak in general 
terms of the different people of this country, and to infer 
the state of their civilization from some few particulars, es- 
pecially derived from the history of the Muyscas. 

From the relation given by Herrera, {Hist. Jlmer. v. 66 
to 91,) we are enabled to infer their claim to an imperfect 
civilization perhaps not inferior to that of the Peruvians; 
with whom, however, they appear to have no common fea- 
tures of resemblance; and from the researches of Baron 
Humboldt we derive certain particulars of their astronomy 
and religion of a highly interesting kind, which we shall 
relate in due order. 

We learn from Herrera as above quoted, that when Que- 
sada first ascended the elevated plain of Bogota, the people 
there were clothed with black, white, and coloured mantles 
of cotton cloth, some of the women wearing cotton caps, 
and others net coifs. 

Their houses were built of timber and thatched; those of 
the chiefs, were "like castles, with several enclosures about 
them like a labyrinth, having large courts, with mouldings, 
and paintings." {Herrera, v. 87.) 

They cultivated maize, yucca, pignuts, which they called 
yomas, and turnips, called cubias,* which they dress with 
meat. {Herrera, v. 87.) They also raised quinoa, (chenopo- 
dium) frequently denominated rice by the early Spanish 
writers. 

Salt, was manufactured by them into large loaves from sa- 
line springs in the mountains, and with which article, a 
great traffic was carried on with adjacent tribes. {Herrera, 
Hist. Jimer. v. 73.) 

They cured meat with salt, which is the one of the few 
instances of such a practice that I have met with in my in- 

* As the common potato, (solatium) was certainly cultivated by these 
mountaineersj I think it not improbable this was the root signified. 



OP COLOMBIA. 



343 



quiries on the nations of this continent. Herrera {Hist. 
Jlmer.v. 77,) says, Quesada found "many sides and large 
pieces of venison, dried with salt." 

They wrought gold into plates and various ornaments, 
such as collars, rings, bracelets, idols, crowns, animals of 
all kinds; and they cut emeralds and other hard stones, into 
various shapes and figures. 

Golden idols are yet occasionally found on the elevated 
plain of Bogota. Hamilton [Travels in Colombia, i. 199,) 
relates, that sixty small idols of gold, were recently disco- 
vered in ploughing a field. The same writer, vol. ii. 239, 
also mentions the discovery of an ancient Indian ring made 
of platina, which we must suppose, had been beat into shape 
from a piece of that metal found in a virgin state. 

Their military weapons were pikes, made of hard wood 
thirty spans in length; macanas, darts, slings, bows and ar- 
rows. They threw darts by means of slings, and also with 
the estolica, or hand board. {Herrera, v. 86, 381.) 

They marched in good order, and manceuvered well in 
time of battle. {Herrera, v. 81.) 

Their kings, and high priests, were treated by the people 
with the greatest respect and submission, even approaching 
them backwards, &c. {Herrera, v. 88.) 

"In point of morality," says Herrera, "these Indians 
were rational enough, punishing crimes, particularly mur- 
der, theft, &c. There are many gibbets along the roads." 

They were very observant of the precepts of their reli- 
gion, and had temples not only in their towns and villages, 
but numbers of little chapels or oratories on their roads, 
with golden or wooden idols placed in them. They also had 
consecrated woods, and lakes, where they made sacrifices. 

The sun and moon, according to Herrera, {Hist. Jimer. v. 
90,) were looked upon as the universal creators: but besides 
these, a multitude of idols were worshipped, to whom also 
temples were dedicated. 

There are some other particulars, that may be gleaned out 
of the history of Herrera concerning these people, which 
would further establish their claim to a certain degree of de- 
mi-civilization, but which we shall not extract, as we have 
more interesting matters to relate of them from the researches 
of Baron Humboldt. He was fortunate enough, to ascertain 
from the inquiries of an intelligent priest of that country, 
some of the leading features of the ancient Muysca theo- 
logy, and their calendar arrangement of time, which we 
shall now lay before our readers in large extracts. 

The following tradition, Humboldt appears to have taken 



344 



OF THE MUYSCAS 



from Piedrahita's history of New Grenada, a work compo- 
sed from certain manuscripts of Quesada, whom we have al- 
ready noted as the principal conqueror of the Muyscas, and 
other people inhabiting the mountainous parts of Colombia. 
As I have never been able to procure a copy of this work, 
I must quote it at second hand from Humboldt's Researches, 
i. 74. 

"In the remotest times before the moon accompanied the 
earth, according to the mythology of the Muysca or Mozca 
Indians, the inhabitants of the plain of Bogota lived like 
barbarians, naked, without any form of laws or religious 
worship. Suddenly appeared among them an old man, who 
came from the plains situate on the east of the Cordillera of 
Chingasa, and who appeared to be of a race unlike that of 
the natives, having a long and bushy beard. He was known 
by three distinct appellations, Bochica, Nemquetheba, and 
Zuhe. This old man, like Manco Capac instructed men 
how to clothe themselves, build huts, till the ground, and 
form themselves into communities. He brought with him 
a woman, to whom tradition also gives three names, Chia, 
Yubecayguaya, and Huythaca. This woman, extremely 
beautiful and no less malignant, thwarted every enterprize 
of her husband for the happiness of mankind. By her skill 
in magic, she swelled the river of Funzha, and inundated 
the valley of Bogota. The greater part of the inhabitants 
perished in this deluge; a few only found refuge on the 
summits of the neighbouring mountains. The old man, in 
anger, drove the beautiful Huythaca far from the earth, and 
she became the moon, which began from. that epoch, to en- 
lighten our planet during the night. Bochica, moved with 
compassion for those who were dispersed over the mountains, 
broke with his powerful arm the rocks that enclosed the 
valley on the side of Canoas and Tequendama. By this out- 
let he drained the waters of the Lake of Bogota. He built 
towns, introduced the worship of the sun, named two chiefs, 
between whom he divided the civil and ecclesiastical au- 
thority, and then withdrew himself under the name of Ida- 
canzas, into the holy valley of Iraca, near Tunja; where he 
lived in the exercise of the most austere penitence, for the 
space of two thousand years." 

"The same traditions also relate (Humboldt, Res. ii. 108,) 
that Bochica, who had established himself high priest of So- 
gamozo or Iraca, seeing the chiefs of the different Indian 
tribes disputing for the supreme authority, advised them to 
choose for zaque or sovereign, one among them named Hun- 
cahua, revered on account of his wisdom and justice. The 



OF COLOMBIA. 



345 



advice of the high priest was universally adopted, and Hun- 
cahua, who reigned two hundred and fifty years, subdued 
the whole of the country that extends from the Savannahs of 
San Juan de los Llanos, to the mountains of Opon. Bochi- 
ca, devoting himself to a life of severe penance, lived a 
hundred Muysca cycles, or two thousand years. He then dis- 
appeared mysteriously at Iraca, to the east of Tunja. This 
town, which was then the most populous in the country, 
was founded by Huncahua, the first of the dynasty of the 
Zaques of Cundinamurca, and took the name of Hunca, 
from its founder, which the Spaniards afterward changed to 
that of Tunca or Tunja. 

"The form of government given by Bochica to the inha- 
bitants of Bogota, is remarkable from its analogy with those 
of Japan and Thibet. At a period probably anterior to 
Manco Capac, Bochica constituted the four chiefs of tribes, 
Gameza, Busbanca, Pesca, and Toca, electors, and ordered 
that after his death, these electors and their descendants should 
have the right of choosing the high priest of Iraca. These 
pontifs or lamas, the successors of Bochica, were considered 
as heirs of his virtue and sanctity, and the people thronged 
in crowds to offer presents to the high priests of Iraca, vi- 
siting those places which were consecrated by the miracles 
of Bochica, and amidst the horrors of the most sanguinary 
warfare, the pilgrims enjoyed the protection of those princes 
through whose territories they passed to visit the sanctuary, 
(chunsua) and prostrate themselves at the feet of the lama 
who presided there. The temporal chief called Zaque of 
Tunja, to whom the Zippa or princes of Bogota paid an 
annual tribute, and the pontif of Iraca, were consequently 
two distinct potentates, as the emperor and dairi are in 
Japan. " 

Baron Humboldt, makes the following observation upon 
the history of Bochica, in which we cannot concur though 
we deem it proper to extract his words. "This Indian fable, 
which attributes the cataract of Tequendama to the founder 
of the empire of the Zaque, contains a number of peculiari- 
ties, which we find scattered in the religious traditions of 
several nations of the old continent. The good and evil 
principle, here seem to be personified in the old man Bochi- 
ca, and his wife Huythaca. The remote period when the 
moon did not exist, reminds us of the boast of the Arcadians 
on the antiquity of their origin. The planet of the night is 
represented as a malignant being, augmenting the humidity 
of the earth, while Bochica, child of the sun, dries the soil, 
promotes agriculture, and becomes the benefactor of the 



346 



OF THE MUVSCAS 



Muyscas, as the first Inca was that of the Peruvians.'*' 
{Humboldt, Res. i. 75.) 

Far from seeing such refined allegories as those alluded to 
by Baron Humboldt in the preceding extract, I think, we 
may recognize a confused account of those events that belong 
to the common history of all nations, and which are related 
by the greater part of them with more or less accuracy. In 
the Muysca tradition, we find a woman, represented as hav- 
ing been the cause of preventing the "happiness of man- 
kind;'* and consecutively, producing a deluge, in which the 
human race with the exception of a few individuals, are sup- 
posed to have perished. Bochica, delivers this small rem- 
nant from impending destruction, remodifies human society, 
instructs them in the various arts of social life, imparts to 
them a religious system and political form of government, 
and having accomplished this work, he mysteriously disap- 
pears. 

Here, then, we have one of those almost universal tradi- 
tions of the early history of man, which alone declared ex- 
plicitly in the Bible, is yet, in a corrupted manner preserved 
among most of the nations of the earth. The particulars 
related by the Muyscas are few, yet they are certainly the 
same with those events related of Saturn, Xisthurus, Quet- 
zalcoatl, and various other hero divinities, who all act a 
similar part with Bochica, in remodifying human society 
escaped from a deluge; and like him, the two last also dis- 
appear suddenly, after the accomplishment of benevolent 
acts. 

Huythaca, was not a symbol of the evil principle among 
the Muyscas, as will be seen in an extract we shall hereafter 
introduce from Baron Humboldt. This evil being was 
known to them as the demon Fomagata, who was figured 
with one eye, four ears, and a long tail. 

We shall also find that Bochica had three heads, like the 
Trimurti of the Hindoos, being a triplicated deity, who 
nevertheless formed but one divinity. This feature, it will 
be found, characterizes in an especial manner the patriarch 
Noah, according to the mythological fictions of many ancient 
nations of Asia, who represent him triplicating himself in 
his three sons. This fact has been very ingeniously sub- 
stantiated by Faber in his Origin of Pagan Idolatry: but as 
we have already introduced his observations on this subject, 
in our account of the Guatemalan nations, the reader will 
please refer back to page 320. 

Bochica, was not only considered the lawgiver and founder 
of the religious system of the Muyscas, but to him was at- 



OP COLOMBIA. 



347 



tributed the invention of that peculiar calendar arrangement 
of time, of which we are now about to speak. 

This system, which appears to have been unnoticed among 
the Spanish writers of South America for a long series of 
years, has been fortunately recovered some few years back, 
by Mr. Duquesne,* an ecclesiastic of Santa Fe de Bogota, 
whose memoir upon this subject, was communicated^to Baron 
Humboldt while at that capital in A. D. 1801, and who has 
given us a detailed view of it in his Researches, ii. 104. As 
we have no other knowledge concerning this calendar, than 
what we have derived from the writings of that learned tra- 
veller, we shall introduce his account and observations upon 
it, in the present chapter, simply throwing them into a form 
more analogous to our plan, and omitting such parts as mani- 
festly have no connexion with the subject under considera- 
tion. 

The least division of time among the Muyscas, was a pe- 
riod of three days, on the first day of which, a great market 
was held at Turmeque. 

Ten of these periods constituted a lunation, or period 
called suna, which means high road, paved road, or dyke, 
because a sacrifice was celebrated every month at the timeoi 
full moon in a public place, to which in every village the 
high road {suna) led, from the house of the chief of the 
tribe. 

Twenty sunas, composed the zocam, or period used by 
these people in their ordinary civil concerns. 

The zocam, or period of the priests, contained thirty- 
seven sunas, and twenty periods of the priests, formed a 
Muysca cycle. 

Besides these two periods, they used a rural year of twelve 
or thirteen sitnas, which was reckoned from one season of 
rains to another. 

In order to distinguish the days, sunas, and zocams, the 
Muyscas made use of a periodical series, the ten terms of 
which were numbers. These numbers in the Chibcha tongue, 
which is the name of the Muysca language, are Jila one, 

* Mr. Duquesne, who was a native of the kingdom of New Grenada, "was 
long the vicar of an Indian village situate on the plain of the ancient Cun- 
dinamurca. His office having enabled him to gain the confidence of the 
natives, who are descendants of the Muyscas, he has endeavoured to collect 
all that tradition has preserved during three centuries, concerning the state 
of those regions before the arrival of the Spaniards in the New Continent. 
He succeeded in procuring one of those sculptured stones, by which the 
Muyscas regulated the division of time, and he acquired the knowledge of 
the simple hieroglyphics which denote both numbers and the lunar days," 
&c. (Humboldt, Res. ii. 105.) 



348 



OF THE MUYSCAS 



Bosa two, Mica three, Muyhica four, Hisca five, Ta six, 
Cuhupqua seven, Suhuza eight, Jica nine, Ubchihica ten. 

Mr. Duquesne, the Spanish priest from whom Humboldt 
derived all his information upon the Muysca calendar, as- 
serts that all the Chibcha words for numbers, as far as we 
have quoted them, are all significant; depending on roots 
which relate either to phases of the moon in its increase or 
wane, or to objects of agriculture and worship. The curious 
reader will find them explained in Humboldt's Res. ii. 119. 

It is a very singular fact, however, that these numbers 
were expressed by characters that are clearly cyphers, as 
may be seen on the engraving of the calendar stones of the 
Muyscas, represented in Humboldt's Researches, ii. 104, to 
which we must refer the reader, from our inability to risk 
the expense of having them engraved for this work. We 
may observe, however, that they bear no analogy to the 
Hindu or Arabic numeral characters.* 

We shall now proceed to explain, as far as we are able, the 
manner in which the Muyscas applied their ten numeral cy- 
phers, to the different parts of their calendar. 

We have already observed, that the smallest period of the 
Muyscas was three days, and that ten such periods, consti- 
tuted their suna. 

"The suna, did not begin at the new moon, as among the 
greater part of the nations of the old world, but on the day 
after the full moon. The words ata, bosa, mica, &c. and 
their graphic signs, arranged in three periodical series, were 
made use of to denote the thirty days of a lunation, so that 
mica, like the quarlidi of the French republican calendar, 
was the 4th, 14th, and 24th day of the suna. The same 
custom was observed among the Greeks, to distinguish 
whether the number belonged to the month beginning, 
middle of the month, or the month ending. As the small 
festivals or market days returned every three days, each 
during the course of a Muysca month was governed by a 
different sign; for the two periodical series of three and ten, 
have no common divisor, and can coincide only after three 
times ten days, as may be seen in the following table, in 
which the market days are distinguished by italic letters. " 
Humboldt Res. ii. 124. 

* Baron Humboldt (Res. ii. 142,) conjectures, that the ten hieroglyphics 
Ata, Bosa, Mica, &c. originally marked like the signs of the Mexican days, 
the division of a zodiac into ten parts, and that the numerical words ata, 
bosa, &c, were substituted for the names of signs only to indicate the 
first sign of the zodiac, the second sign, the third sign, &c. and that this 
substitution has insensibly given rise to the extraordinary idea, that the 
numbers themselves were significant. 



OF COLOMBIA. 



19 



First Series. 



Second Series. < 



TABLE 

Representing the days of the Sana, divided into ten smalt 
periods of three days. (Humboldt, Res. ii. 126.) 

Ata. 
Bosa. 
Mica. 
Muyhica. 
Hisca. 
Ta. 

Cuhupqua — last quarter of I he -moon. 
Suhuza. 
Aca. 

Ubchihica. 

Ata. 
Bosa. 
Mica. 
Muyhica. 

Hisca — conju net io n . 
Ta. 

Cuhupqua. 
Suhuza. 
Aca. 

Ubchihica. 

Ata. 
Bosa. 

Mica — first quarter. 
Muyhica. 
Hisca. 
Ta. 

Cuhupqua. 
Suhuza. 
Aca. 

Ubchihica — full moon. 

"The Sunas, had no peculiar denomination as we find 
among the Egyptians, Persians, Hindoos and Mexicans, they 
were distinguished only by their number." 

Twenty sunas, formed the ordinary zocam, (or period) by 
which the Muyscas regulated their civil concerns. And 
twenty zocams, (or periods) of the priests, each containing 
thirty-seven swias constituted the Muysca cycle, which 
seems to indicate the existence of the cycle of sixty years 
according to Baron Humboldt, which he says, {Res. ii. 128,) 



Third Series. 



45 



350 



OF THE MUYSCAS 



is equal to the seven hundred and forty sunas contained in 

the Muysca cycle.* 

The zocam, or period of the priests, was an astronomical 
cycle containing thirty-seven sunas, by which they regula- 
ted their religious festivals. It is in reality three rural years, 
of which two contain twelve sunas each, and the third thir- 
teen sunas, embracing in all, 1110 days, which exceeds three 
vague years by nearly 15 days. 

"Though the rural year was reckoned to be composed of 
twelve sunas, the priests added, unknown to the people, at 
the end of the third year, a thirteenth month, analogous to 
the jun of the Chinese. The table we are about to lay down, 
proves that by the employment of the periodical series, this 
intercalary suna was governed in the first instance by euhup- 
qua. It is this sign which is called the deaf moon, because 
it did not count in the fourth series, which without the use 
of a complementary term, should have commenced not by 
suhuza, but by cuhupqua."i This will be better under- 
stood when we observe, that the Muyscas did not reckon in 
their three calendars, rural, civil and religious, as far as 12, 
20, or 37: they employed for the sunas themselves, as well 
as for the days of the suna, only the ten numbers and their 
hieroglyphics. Thus the first month of the second agricul- 
tural year, was governed by the sign mica, (three) the third 
month of the third year by the sign cuhupqua, (seven) and 
the rest in like manner. 55 {Humboldt, Res. ii. 127, 128.) 

* If the Muysca cycle was intended to constitute a period of sixty years, it 
is a very gross attempt; for 740 sunas, amount to 22,200 days; whereas an 
astronomical cycle of 60 years is not quite equal to 21,915 days; and one 
composed of vague years, is equal but to 21,900 days. The Mxiysca cycle, 
therefore, exceeds the first by 2S5, and the latter by 300 days. 

It is possible, however, that they may have omitted to intercalate certain 
deaf sunas at particular times, but on this point; we have no information. Or 
it may be, that their cycle is but an attempt to recover a mode of computa- 
tion used by a more civilized age or people, whose correct features had been 
lost. 

We have every reason to think, that the cycle of 60, or the half of 120 
years, was at least of the earliest postdiluvian use. See our observations on 
the Mexican astronomy, page 217. 

f "This mode of intercalation, which is found in the north of India, and ac- 
cording to which, a lunar embolismic year of three hundred and eighty-three 
days, twenty- one hours, follows two common lunar years of three hundred 
and fifty-four days, eight hours, is that which the Athenians followed before 
Meton. It is the dieteride, in which was intercalated after the month Poside= 
on, a TIoCsi^wv <5siiTcpo£." &.c. (Humboldt, Res. ii. 123.) 



OF COLOMBIA. 



351 



THREE FORMS OF ZOCAMS OF THE CALENDAR OF THE MUS- 
CAYS. (Humboldt, Researches, ii. 130.) 



Rural Years of Twelve 
and Thirteen Sunas. 



Ata 



Common Year. 



11. Mica 



Common Year. 



III. Hisca. 



Embolismic Year. 



9 
10 
II 
t 12 

Deaf suna or moon. 1 3 



12 



Periods of the Priests con- 
tainingThirty-seven Sunas 



Ata 

Bosa 
Mica 
Muyhica . 
Hisca 

Ta 

Cuhupqua 
Suhuza . . 
Aca .... 
Ubchihica 

Ata 

Bosa . . . . 

Mica 

Muyhica . 
Hisca 

Ta 

Cuhupqua 
Suhuza . . . 

Aca 

Ubchihica , 

Ata 

Bosa 
Mica 

Muyhica . . 

Hisca . . . 

Ta 

Cuhupqua . 
Suhuza . . . 

Aca 

Ubchihica . 

Ata 

Bosa . . . . 
Mica 

Muyhica . . 
Hisca . . . . 

Ta 

Cuhupqua . 



IV. Suhuza 1 

2 
3 



II. Suhuza . . 
Aca 

Ubchihica 
Ata 



Vulgar periods of 
twenty Sunas. 



I. Ata 



Harvest 



Harvest 



II. Ata 



Harvest 



Embolismic suna 



III. Ata 



352 



OF THE MUYSCAS 



"Among the Muyscas, it is to the singular use of numbers, 
the series of which has two terms less than the rural year con- 
tains moons, (sunas) that we must attribute the imperfection 
of a calendar, in which notwithstanding the intercalation of 
the thirty-seventh month, (suna) cuhupqua, the harvest du- 
ring six years, falls every year in a month of a different de- 
nomination. Thus the priests announced every year, by 
what sign the month (suna) of the ears of maize should be 
presided, which corresponds to the Abib or Nisan of the ca- 
lendar of the Hebrews. As the power of a class of society is 
often founded upon the ignorance of other classes, the priests 
of the Muyscas preferred an uncouth calendar, in which the 
eighth month (October) was sometimes called the third, some- 
times the fifth, and in which the differences of season did not 
coincide with the sunas of the same name. The priests of 
Thibet and of Hindostan know in the same manner how to 
take advantage of this multiplicity of the signs that govern 
the years, months, lunar days, and hours; they announce them 
to the people in order to levy a tax upon their credulity." 

"The object of the intercalation* of the Muyscas, was to 
bring back to the same season the commencement of the ru- 
ral year, and the festivals which were celebrated in the sixth 
month; the name of which w T as consecutively suna ta, suna 
suhuza, suna ubchihica. Mr. Duquesne thinks that the be- 
ginning of the zocam, was, as among the Peruvians, the Hin- 
doos and the Chinese, the full moon that follows the winter 
solstice, but this tradition is uncertain." 

"In the same manner as among the nations of Tartarian 
race, the cycle of sixty years was divided into five parts; the 
cycle of the Muyscas of twenty periods of thirty-seven sunas, 
was divided into four small cycles, each of which contained 
one hundred and eighty-five moons, (sunas) which corres- 
ponded with fifteen Chinese and Thibetan years, and conse- 
quently with the real indictions observed in the time of 
Constantine. In this division by sixty, and by fifteen, the 
calendar of the Muyscas approaches much nearer that of the 
people of eastern Asia than the calendar of the Mexicans, 
who had cycles of four times thirteen, or fifty-two years." 

"The beginning of each indiction of the Muyscas, was 
marked by a sacrifice, the barbarous ceremonies of which, 

*"The Muysca Indians engraved on stones, the signs which presided over 
the years, moons, and lunar days. These stones reminded the priests in what 
zocam or Muysca year, such or such a moon (suna) became intercalary." 

Humboldt has given the engraving of the stone procured by Mr. Duquesne 
among the Muyscas: and to his Researches, we must refer the reader inqui- 
sitive on this subject, as it does not fall within our province to introduce his 
explanations on this curious particular. 



OF COLOMBIA. 



353 



from the little we know, appear all of them to have a con- 
nexion with astrological ideas. The human victim was call- 
ed guesa, wandering or houseless, and quihica, door, because 
his death announced as it were the opening of a new cycle of 
a hundred and eighty-five sunas. The guesa, was a child 
torn from the paternal home. He must necessarity be taken 
from a certain village situate in the plains, called at the pre- 
sent day the Llanos de San Juan, which extended from the 
eastern slope of the Cordilleras, to the banks of the Guaviare. 
It was from this same country of the east, that Bochica, the em- 
blem of the sun, came, when he made his first appearance 
among the Muyscas. The guesa was most carefully educa- 
ted in the temple of the sun at Sogamozo till the age often 
years; he was then made to go out to walk in the paths which 
Bochica had trodden at the period when in his instructions 
to the people, he had consecrated those spots by his miracles. 
At the age of fifteen years, when the victim had attained a 
number of sunas equal to that contained in the indiction of 
the Muysca cycle, he was sacrificed in one of those circular 
places in the centre of which was an elevated column."* 

"At the time of the celebration of the sacrifice, which 
marked the opening of a new indiction or a cycle of fifteen 
years, the victim guesa was led in procession along the suna, 
(high road) which gave its name to the lunar month, toward 
the column that appears to have served to measure the solsti- 
tial or equinoxial shadows, and the passages of the sun through 
the zenith. The priests, in masks like the Egyptian priests, 
followed the victim. Some represented Bochica, who is the 
Osiris, or the Mithras of Bogota, and to whom were attribu- 
ted three heads, because like the Trimurti of the Hindoos, 
he contained three persons who formed only one divinity ;t 
others bore the emblems of Chia, the wife of Bochica, Isis 
or the moon; others were covered with masks resembling 
frogs, in allusion to ata, the first sign of the year; finally, 
others represented the monster Fomagata, the symbol of 
evil, figured with one eye, four ears and a long tail. This 
Fomagata, whose name in the Chibcha language signifies fire, 
or melted matter in a state of ebullition, was considered 
as an evil spirit. He travelled through the air between Tun- 
ja and Sogamozo, and transformed men into serpents, lizards 
and tigers. According to other traditions, Fomagata was 
originally a cruel prince, whom, to secure the succession to 
his brother Tusatua, Bochica caused to be treated on the 

* Baron Humboldt thinks it highly probable, that these columns were used 
by the Muyscas to mark the length of the equinoxial and solstitial shadows. 
| Of this curious feature we have already taken notice in page 320. 



354 



OF THE MUYSCAS OF COLOMBIA. 



night of his nuptials, as Uranus had been by Saturn. When 
the procession, which reminds us of the astrological pro- 
cessions of the Chinese, and that of the feasts of Isis, had 
reached the extremity of the suna, (road,) the victim was 
tied to the column we have already mentioned; a cloud of 
arrows covered him, and his heart was torn out to be offered 
to the king sun, Bochica. The blood of the guesa was re- 
ceived into sacred vessels. This barbarous ceremony has 
several striking relations with that celebrated by the Mexi- 
cans at the end of their great cycle of fifty-two years*" 

We must now terminate abruptly, our discourse upon the 
Muyscas, for want of further materials. Whatever was in- 
teresting in their history, religion, or institutions, beyond the 
few particulars we have already stated, has been most proba- 
bly long forgotten under the fanaticism of the Spaniards. 
And we can hardly cherish the hope that Mr. Duquesne's 
memoir, should it be ever published, will after the lapse of 
300 years, convey to us more than a very imperfect idea of 
what the Muysca civilization was in times preceding the 
Spanish conquest. Yet we cannot but express some impa- 
tience to peruse a dissertation upon these subjects, which he 
alone, perhaps, is, or was sufficiently instructed to write. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE, 

As early as the year A. D. 1511, Balboa, famous for hav- 
ing first crossed the Isthmus of Darien, was informed by the 
Indians that to the south was a rich and powerful kingdom, 
whose inhabitants navigated the ocean in large vessels, (bal- 
sas,) and transported burthens on land by means of animals 
(lamas) trained to that service. 

It was not, however, until A. D. 1530, that the Spaniards 
led by Francisco Pizarro, actually invaded that populous and 
fertile country since known to us as the kingdom of Peru,* 
which in a short time fell under the dominion of these bold 
and desperate adventurers, and became but a rich province of 
the Spanish monarchy. 

According to Garcilazo de la Vega, who was descended 
from the Peruvian lncas, and who lived before the traditions 
of the country were altogether lost or destroyed by the 
Spanish conquest, the kingdom of Peru extended at the time 
of its discovery by the Europeans, from the river Ancar- 
maya, nearly on the equator, as far south as the river Mauli 
in Chili. On the east its boundaries were the Andes moun- 
tains; and on the west the great Pacific ocean. 

We are not solicitous of accuracy concerning the bounda- 
ries of aboriginal American kingdoms, our undertaking not 
involving geographical limits as much as the moral and social 
history of their population, and we shall therefore content 
ourselves by saying, that the Peruvian empire proper, was 
circumscribed by much smaller boundaries than those given 
by Garcilazo, though it is also true, that the military inva- 
sions or conquests of the lncas had reached the limits al- 
ready mentioned. 

* I do not know whether the Peruvians distinguished their country by any 
general appellation, probably it was called the empire of the lncas; which 
included a number of different tribes and nations, each of which was known 
by its own peculiar name. 

The name Peru, which was given it by the Spaniards, originated in the 
following mistake. When they first sailed along the coast, they surprised an 
Indian fishing in the mouth of a river and by signs and gestures inquired of 
him the name of the country; he misapprehending the question, answered, 
"I am called Bent, and this river is named Belu." Without conceiving it 
probable that neither understood the other, the Spaniards gave the country 
the name of Peru. (Garcilazo, Royal Commentaries, 3.) 

To make this mistaken name still more ridiculous, some etymologists have 
considered it the Ophir visited by Solomon's ships from Eziongeber. 



356 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &.C. 



We may also observe, that the chief towns of ancient Peru 
were near the Andes, and the population more condensed in 
these cooler situations, than along the sea coasts. (Herrera, 
it. 281.) 

The ancient traditional history of the Peruvians according 
to the writings of Garcilazo, we shall introduce at once to 
our readers, as certain particulars are there related, essen- 
tially connected with their institutions and customs, by 
which we can alone impart correct views of their polity and 
manners. We shall do this, however, in the simplest man- 
ner possible, merely relating what they have said without 
present commentary, but which we shall consider at some 
length in a future page. 

Nothing can be more rude and barbarous than the state of 
society, which is represented to have existed in Peru in the 
first ages of her history. The natives are described as living 
by two's and three's in holes and caves, half naked, and 
feeding upon whatever matters came in their way, even 
eating human flesh. They lived without law, government, 
or religion, or according to Garcilazo's words, "they were 
like so many brute beasts." 

The sun beholding this deplorable condition of the Peru- 
vians, felt so much compassion for them, that he sent a son 
and daughter of his own celestial origin down from heaven, 
to instruct them in religion, government, and the arts of 
civilized life. 

These two illustrious individuals, were Manco Capac the 
first Inca, and his wife Coya Mama, who were placed by the 
sun on an island in Lake Titicaca, with permission to go 
wheresoever they pleased; under the sole restriction that 
when they should stop at any place to eat or sleep, they 
should there strike a little wedge of gold into the ground, 
and that they should at last establish themselves permanently 
in that place, where the wedge should sink deep into the 
earth. 

It was not long before they reached a spot, where the 
wedge not only sunk into the ground but descended so deep, 
that they could never again recover it; and thus their future 
habitation was indubitably designated. At this place com- 
menced the operations of their benevolent mission; for 
Manco going northwardly, and his wife southwardly, de- 
clared to all the men and women that they happened to meet, 
that their father the sun had sent them as their benefactors, 
to draw them from their rude and savage life to one more 
agreeable to "comfort and reason." 

The savage Peruvians were struck with the appearance of 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



357 



these two persons, who^ dressed with clothes and adorned 
with jewels, spoke to them with great kindness and affabil' 
ity. They were allured by their promises, and relating 
these things one to another, the fame thereof so increased 
and spread, that great numbers came together willing to fol- 
low Manco to whatsoever place he might be pleased to con- 
duct them. In this manner having assembled the people of 
the country, they then began to erect their habitations. Thus 
was founded the celebrated city of Cuzco, the future metro- 
polis of the Peruvian Incas, from which as a centre emanated 
those laws, institutions, and customs, that finally prevailed 
over the whole kingdom. Manco was constantly employed 
in the object of his mission; for no sooner had he built the 
city of Cuzco, than he began to plant colonies in various 
parts of the adjacent country, drawing the savage population 
together and teaching them all those arts and principles of 
government, by which Peru became afterwards so distin- 
guished. 

In process of time, Manco died a natural death, was buried 
by his subjects, and a regular succession of his descendants 
governed the Peruvian empire until the time of the Spanish 
conquest under Pizarro. 

We shall now, under proper heads, treat of whatever seems 
peculiar and remarkable in the constitution of the Peruvian 
empire, according to the plan we have followed when dis- 
coursing on other demi-civiiized nations of America. 

Of the Polity of the Peruvians. 

The Incas divided their empire into four parts, answering 
to the cardinal points of the compass; the city of Cuzco be- 
ing the centre, or in the language of Peru, the navel of the 
kingdom. 

The land itself was divided into three portions, one be- 
longing to the sun, one to the Inca, and the third to the peo- 
ple at large. 

The land allotted to the people was only for their personal 
use, as they could not sell or alienate their respective propor- 
tions; the fee being expressly vested in the Inca. 

Every year, this land was divided among the people ac- 
cording to the number of individuals composing their fami- 
lies; and at which time they received their seed corn from 
the Inca's granaries. 

In cultivating the ground, the whole people were actuated 
as if belonging to one community. They first attended to 
the lands of the Sun, and those allotted to the support of the 
poor, in which number were included widows, orphans, and 
46 



358 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



the families of soldiers absent in war. In the next place, 
every private person worked his own portion, which was 
about as much as required for sowing a fanega and a half 
of maize. The last lands they cultivated were those of the 
Inca, to which they applied themselves with the greatest 
alacrity, being dressed as if for a festival, singing songs, 
and making other demonstrations of joy. At this time, 
which was certainly a religious festival, they were continually 
shouting haylli, hay Hi* which Garcilazo says, means tri- 
umph, triumph, as if expressing their dominion over the 
ground and forcing it to produce their subsistence. 

The Peruvians seem to be the only American people that 
made use of an instrument like the plough in cultivating their 
fields. Garcilazo says, it was a piece of wood about four fin- 
gers broad and a yard long, flat before, round behind, and 
pointed at the end. At about a foot from the end, they 
bound two pieces of wood whereon they might put the foot 
and force it into the ground; it was then drawn forcibly 
along by six or seven persons, who appear to have been fas- 
tened by ropes to the instrument, and in this manner it is 
said they turned up clods of earth of large size. 

They manured their grounds with the dung of animals, of 
which human excrement seems to have been preferred. On 
the sea coasts they collected the dung of sea fowls, that was 
deposited by these birds in large quantities on the small 
islands along the shores. They also used the dead fish left 
behind by the tides, &e. 

They likewise carefully irrigated their fields with water 
brought in aqueducts or canals from a great distance. Of 
these we shall speak hereafter. 

The great aridity of the soil in many parts of Peru, es- 
pecially in those where it seldom or never rains, and where 
there was great difficulty in making a canal of irrigation, 
sometimes induced this agricultural people to make excava- 
tions of great extent, that the roots of their vegetables might 
be in as humid a situation as possible. Stevenson ( Travels 
South America, i. 359,) makes a brief mention of one of 
these agricultural monuments at Pisco, about fifty leagues 
south of Lima, and which he terms "an immense labour." 
An intelligent commercial friend who has visited Peru, in- 
forms me, that near Truxilio is an enclosure by walls of 
mud or clay brick, encompassing about five acres of ground, 
in which is one of these sunken gardens; which he conjec- 

* Does this word bear any real analogy with the huli of the Hindoos? a 
festival which is celebrated in the month of March ; and the last day of which, 
is passed in a manner similar to that in which children and others amuse 
themselves among us on the first of April. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



359 



tures to have been an acre in extent, the bottom of which is 
about twenty feet below the natural surface of the ground. 

The Spaniards call these excavations hoyas, and I presume 
they are to be met with in various parts of that kingdom. 

The Peruvians cultivated maize, and quinoa, (chenopodi- 
um) a plant whose seed is something; like rice. The potato, 
(solanum) sweet potato, (convolvulus) gourds or squashes, 
(cucurbita) and various other roots not known out of the 
country. They raised beans, (phaseolus) of two or three dif- 
ferent kinds. Cayenne peppers, (capsicum) bananas,* (mu- 
sa) and various other fruits. The Maguey, (agave) the Cuca, 
a plant whose leaves they constantly chewed. They raised 
a little tobacco; and cotton was cultivated to a considerable 
extent. 

The revenues of the empire consisted, for the most part, in 
the personal labour of the people. They cultivated the fields 
of the Inca, and stored the produce in the royal granaries; 
two of which were located in every province, one expressly 
for the use of the natives in case of famine, the other to meet 
the exigencies of the Inca, the supply of the army, &c. All 
persons employed in the service of this prince were supplied 
with food from the public storehouses. 

The people were also required to contribute clothing, shoes 
or sandals, weapons, &c. for the use of the army and for the 
poor and decrepid. This was accomplished by each pro- 
vince or district furnishing that article which was most suit- 
able to their circumstances, and the natural productions of 
their respective countries. When finished they were depo- 
sited in the tambos or storehouses of the Inca, until they might 
be wanted. 

The immense treasure possessed by the Inca in gold and 
silver, was not derived from rents or tribute, but from volun- 
tary presentation. These metals had little value among the 
Peruvians except for ornamental purposes, and were chiefly 
applied to the decoration of the temples, palaces of the Inca, 
&c. 

On the same principle, they presented to the Inca living 
animals of all kinds, who had them taken care of in proper 
menageries. 

Women, soldiers, and all persons under twenty-five, or 
above fifty years of age, were exempted from taxation, as 

* The banana and plantain, have been asserted by some writers to have 
been imported to America by Europeans or Africans. This opinion has been 
set aside by Humboldt and others from a knowledge of the vegetable produc- 
tions of the country. 3ut a mora express proof is urged by Stevenson, (Trav. 
S. Arrrn. i. 332, who says, he has found beds of leaves of both plants in an- 
cient Peruvian tombs. 



360 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C 



were also the priests, nobles, and those of the lineage of the 
Xnca. Newly married persons were not required to contri- 
bute any thing to the public treasury for an entire year. 

From the impotent and extremely indigent, it is related, 
that a certain quantity of lice were exacted by the orders of 
the Inca. This curious tax was merely a regulation to pro- 
duce personal cleanliness among such persons, and is only 
mentioned as a singular instance of the minutiae of their laws, 
and precepts of the government.* 

The people were divided into tens, fifties, hundreds, and 
thousands, each division of which was governed or inspected 
by its proper officer, who managed every thing belonging to 
his charge and made report to the officer immediately supe- 
rior to him in rank. By this means a minute account of the 
whole people was continually brought to the Inca, and in this 
manner he was enabled to issue the necessary orders for sup- 
plying local wants, and drafting of persons for public service. 

These officers were required to be very vigilant, in execut- 
ing their duties, which, as they descended into all the minu- 
tiae of life, as exhibited in the behaviour and morals of the 
people, was no trifling task. Garcilazo informs us that even 
when children misbehaved, the officers over tens were re- 
sponsible for their misconduct as well as the parents.t 

No appeal was allowed from the judgment of the officers 
deciding on the cases belonging to their jurisdictions. But 
if it so happened that the officer himself was embarrassed as 
to the equity of the case, it was referred to the officer of 
greatest jurisdiction in the city or district. 

In common cases, the officers or judges were obliged to de- 
cide in five days alter the cause had been laid before them. 
All decisions were monthly reported to superior officers un- 
til they finally were brought to the Inca. 

That the officers themselves performed their duty in a pro- 
per manner was attended to by the Inca, who appointed a su- 
pervisor over them called Tucuy-ricoc, who notified them of 
the matters belonging to their appointments, and in cases of 
misbehaviour reported them to the Inca for punishment; at 
least it does not appear that this officer had the power to do 
so in his own name or authority. 

The punishments inflicted by the Peruvian laws were se- 

*The people of Mechoacan, (Mexico) collected a similar tribute for their 
kings when too poor to contribute a proper revenue. (Herrera, ii. 300.) 
Jbelieve it was not an unusual tribute exacted among the provinces of 
Mexico in general. 

fThe Japanese, (K&mpher, i. 283,) have a similar police by which superiors 
3re made responsible for the conduct of those committed to their charge. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



361 



vere, and for the most part capital. * The family of the Inca, 
and the nobility, were generally degraded from their rank 
when guilty of any transgression; but in certain cases, as for 
instance murder, they were put to death. 

It is a very curious circumstance in the history of the semi- 
barbarous Peruvians, that they occasionally resorted to pun- 
ishments that were simply degrading from a sense of shame. 
Herrera (Hist. Jimer. iv. 3.37,) specifies several crimes that 
were punished by them when the offender was made "to car- 
ry a stone on his back, which was very disgraceful. "t 

From this brief exhibition, it will be perceived, that the 
Incas exercised a despotic sway over their subjects, govern- 
ing them according to their own views and pleasure, or as 
the exigencies of the times may have required; hence the 
proceedings of the government were necessarily fluctuating, 
and according to the capacity and temper of the Inca were 
either just or unjust, capricious or benevolent. 

The laws or ordinances of the Incas, were proclaimed to 
the people from an appointed place in Cuzco, to which they 
resorted when summoned for this purpose. 

The IncasJ were lineal descendants of Manco Capac and 
his sister wife Coya Mama, or as she is otherwise called, 
Mama Oello, or Mama Cora. As they were a divine race, 
it was a matter of consequence to keep their blood pure and 
unmixed, which they endeavoured to accomplish by obliging 
the reigning Inca to marry his eldest sister; an incest only 
permitted to him, it being expressly forbidden to all other 
persons. 

Herrera says, that during the continuance of the Peruvian 
monarchy, the marriage of the Inca and his sister had been 

* I have not been able to learn in what manner death was inflicted on 
criminals. Garcilazo (Roy. Comment. 146,^ incidentally observes, that crim- 
inals were sometimes exposed to the wild beasts of the Inca's menageries; 
but this could be only done very partially. 

f The Peruvians still shew a sensibility concerning certain punishments, 
which distinguishes them remarkably from other American Indians. Don 
Ulloa ( Voy. i. 281,) makes the following relation. "The greatest affront 
possible to be offered to an Indian of either sex, is to cutoff their hair; what- 
ever corporeal punishment their masters think proper to inflict on them they 
bear with a dutiful tranquillity, but this is a disgrace they never forgive; and 
accordingly it was found necessary for the government to interpose and limit 
this punishment to the most enormous crimes." 

\ The word Inca, means lord or king; but more commonly it signifies any 
one of the royal blood: it was, however, applied only to males, the royal fe- 
males being called Pallas. 

To meet the more common sense of this word, according to European im- 
pressions, we have endeavoured to use the term Inca, as applicable alone to 
the reigning prince. Among the Peruvians, he was called Capac Inca, or il- 
lustrious Inca, to distinguish him from the other members of the royal fam- 
ily. (Garcilazo, 21.) 



362 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C 



three times interrupted; twice from defect of female issue, 
and once from motives of policy. 

The throne was inherited by the eldest male heir, and if 
he died without children the next eldest brother succeeded. 
Garcilazo 108, says, in default of male heirs, females might 
inherit the throne. Whether he is correct in this statement 
we know not, but it was never rendered necessary, there 
having been according to him, a perfectly regular succession 
of heirs from the marriages of brothers and sisters successive- 
ly, from the time of Manco Capac until the subjection of the 
kingdom by the Spaniards. There is however, some reason 
to doubt this latter statement; and Herrera relates, that there 
had been disputes among them concerning the succession; 
but as these matters belong to civil history, they do not re- 
quire our present investigation. 

The Llautu or diadem of the Inca, was a fillet of woollen 
yarn, about as thick as the finger and dyed of various colours, 
which was wound fouror five times round thehead,andin which 
occasionally the feathers of a certain species of hawk were 
fixed perpendicularly. Their ears were also bored or cut 
open, and the lobe extended as wide as possible. 

If their subjects chose to wear a fillet on their heads, it 
was required to be of a black colour, and if they dilated their 
ears, they were not allowed to carry it so far as to resemble 
the extraordinary openings in the ears of the Inca's lineage. 

The standard or insignia of the empire, was a rainbow dis- 
played on the banner of the Inca, with a snake on each side. 

The Inca, besides his temporal power, was also at the head 
of the ecclesiastical department; and the priests were all of 
royal blood. 

Certain officers of the Peruvian empire were called Cura- 
cas, lords or governors of provinces, and districts. This spe- 
cies of nobility was hereditary, though not always in the first 
born, as a certain preference was given to individuals of the 
family according to their capacity or talents But as Garci- 
lazo says the selection was made by the people themselves, 
the dignity became in a manner also elective. 

The Curacas or chiefs of the foreign nations conquered by 
the Incas, were generally continued by him in the exercise 
of their original power. 

The Incas lived during the latter reigns in considerable 
state and splendor, surrounded by every thing that their social 
state enabled them to deem magnificent or august. 

Their palaces appear to have been a collection of separate 
halls or houses, arranged together with some regard to sym- 
metry, if we may take the drawing and description of the In- 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



363 



ea's palace , I Cannar, as the general plan followed by them. It 
would be useless to attempt describing this monument with- 
out the plate, and we therefore refer our readers to Hum- 
boldt's Researches, ii. 194. 

These palaces were sufficiently large to accommodate the 
retinue of the Inca, and the whole was surrounded by a wall 
of stone, earth, or sun-dried brick. 

Gardens were attached to the palaces, in which were plant- 
ed fruit trees, flowers, and odoriferous plants of all kinds. 

The walls of the palace, as also the temples of the sun, were 
decorated with plates of gold, silver and ornaments of those 
metals resembling various animals and other objects, which 
were arranged with a view to effect. 

The Inca sat upon a stool of massy gold about twenty in- 
ches high, which was also placed upon a square plate of gold. 
Pizarro got one of these stools in his plunder of Atabillipa, 
that was worth 25,000 ducats. 

All the vessels used at the Inca's table and in his kitchen^ 
were made either of gold or silver. 

In many of their houses the Incas had cisterns made from 
the precious metals, in which they bathed themselves. The 
water was brought to them in pipes made of similar materi- 
als.* 

When the Inca went abroad, he was carried seated in his 
golden stool, upon a litter borne by men on their shoulders. 

We have no particular account of the furniture of the palace 
other than what has been stated, except that it was well pro- 
vided with bedding, which chiefly consisted of a fabric like 
o*ir blankets made of wool and very soft and fine. 

The Inca, according to Garcilazo, wore a suit of clothing 
twice only, after this use he gave them to his relations or de- 
pendants. 

When the Inca died, the chamber in which he usually slept 
was shut up with all its furniture and decorations, and no one 
was permitted to enter it afterwards, it being then considered 
a sacred place. 

Garcilazo says, that every room in the palace in which he 
had ever slept, even if but for once, was closed in the same 

* Many persons, surprised at the immense quantities of gold and silver used 
by the Peruvian lncas, have considered the earlier Spanish historians as guilty 
of gross fictions. Without attempting to convince this unreasonable scepti- 
cism upon matters notorious to numerous Spanish writers on Peru, we will 
only adduce a single fact In a tomb of a Peruvian prince, opened by a Spa- 
niard A D 1576, massive gold to the amount of one million of dollars was 
there found, as is proved by the book of accounts preserved in the Mayor's 
office at Truxillo, where the receipt of one fifth of that amount is acknow- 
ledged by the Spanish officer, as the king's proportion. (Humboldt, Res. i. 92.> 



364 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



manner. But for every apartment thus shut up new ones 
were built for the use of the succeeding prince. 

A numerous body of servants and domestics were always 
in attendance on the Inca, such as sedan carriers, keepers of 
the wardrobe, butlers, cooks, porters, gardeners, sweepers, 
carriers of wood, water, &c. These servants, however, were 
not permanently established about the person of the Inca, for 
the provinces in rotation furnished them, and superseded 
them when they pleased, after a service of a few weeks or 
months. 

The consumption of provision about the court, was of 
course, from the number of persons there employed, very 
great; but more especially, because all the branches of the 
Inca's kindred were allowed to draw their living from his 
kitchen. Hence the great allowance of food, clothing, &c. 
which was given from the lands cultivated by the people; a 
circumstance we have mentioned in a preceding page. 

The lnca's queen was his own sister, as we have already 
stated, and her children alone could succeed to the throne. 
But the Incas also had large harems; Huayna Capac is re- 
ported to have left at his decease above two hundred chil- 
dren. 

Polygamy was forbidden to the people at large according 
to Garcilazo; but the contrary statement is so expressly made 
by Herrera, that we shall adopt his account and the impres- 
sion that they might have as many wives as they could pro- 
cure and maintain. 

Of the Manufactures of the Peruvians. 

From the wool of the lama, vicunia, &c. the Peruvians 
spun and wove garments suited to their necessities or local 
exposure. 

The wool required by the people, was partly derived from 
the domesticated flocks of lamas belonging to the Inca, and 
^partly from the wild animals they surrounded in those 
great hunting expeditions which annually took place in one 
of the four quarters or divisions of the empire, and by which 
means the whole kingdom was examined in the course of 
four years. At these hunting matches, all animals furnish- 
ing wool were shorn, and then permitted to escape. The 
coarser kind of wool was distributed among the people, and 
the finer qualities reserved for the use of the Inca and his 
family. 

In the hotter parts of the country, cotton was supplied by 
the Inca for the clothing of his subjects. 

The materials for making other fabrics and clothes they 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



365 



procured by their individual exertions: we have little account 
of them, except, that they made a kind of coarse linen from 
the maguey plant, and from the skins of animals, they pre- 
pared a leather like that of the chamois. 

The fashion of their clothes was prescribed by law, and 
distinctions were established for the different provinces. 
Any departure from the regulations was severely punished 
by the Inca. 

According to Herrera, the habit of the Peruvians was a 
short tunick or chemise, without sleeves or collar, and loosely 
adjusted on the person. Their arms and legs were exposed 
and bare. Over the whole body, when necessary, they 
wore a cloak or mantle a yard and three quarters square. 
This cloak is the poncho of the Spaniards. It has a slit 
made in the middle through which the head is passed, and 
the ends hang down all round the body.* 

On the feet they wore a sole made of flags, rushes, &c. 
tied on like the ancient sandal. 

Besides the Llautos or fillets, which they bound round 
their temples to distinguish their province and country, 
Acosta, page 467, says, "In some places they wore a long 
piece of cloth, which was wrapped several times round the 
head; in other places, it was wrapped once round. In other 
parts they wore little mortars or caps; in others, high and 
round bonnets, &c. with a thousand other differences. "t 

We have been particular in remarking this circumstance 
of the Peruvians using a cover for the head, as it distin- 
guishes them in a remarkable manner from other demi-ci- 
vilized people of America. 

The dress of the women, seems to have differed chiefly 
from that of the men, in the chemise being made longer, and 
the mantle of smaller size, which they wore as a shawl tied 
over the shoulders. 

They wore necklaces of gold or silver, beads of various 
substances, and of different colours. 

The Peruvians used tools of copper hardened by an alloy 
of tin. One of their chisels on being carried to France, 
was analysed and found to be composed of 0.94 copper, .06 
of tin; a composition which is said {Humboldt, Researches, 
i. 260,) to cut wood like steel. 

* The Trabaea of the Romans was of a similar fashion, and is yet, with 
some little alteration, worn by the Roman Catholic priests under the appel- 
lation of Chasuble. The Habba of the Arabs, (Malte-Brun, Geog. book 30,) 
is also a similar garment, a3 well as the Tebuta of the Otaheitans. 

t Garcilazo says, "the common people of Canaris sometimes used the 
shell of a gourd or pumpkin to cover their heads, and that "the nobility wore 
a cap of thin woven thread, like a sieve, scarce above three fingers high." 
(Roy. Comment. 308.) 
47 



366 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



Their chief tool, however, was a copper hatchet, the han- 
dles of which were made of the same metal, and projected 
a short distance on either side of the instrument. 

They cast gold, silver, and other metals, into various fi- 
gures of men, animals, trees, plants, &c. They also manu- 
factured them into dishes, cups, jars, and other household 
utensils. 

Ulloa [Voyages, i. 496,) mentions the delicacy of their 
gold castings with some wonder as to the manner they were 
enabled to fabricate them. 

The same author [Mem. Philos. ii. 101,) says, that ba- 
lances made of silver, have been found among Peruvian 
monuments, the dishes of which were in the shape of cones 
reversed. 

In melting the metals, they used blow-pipes made of cop- 
per about a yard long, and when necessary they combined 
five, sis, or more of them, as the work required. 

They manufactured from clay various kinds of earthen 
ware into convenient shapes, sometimes ornamented with 
whimsical devices. I have two double cups taken from a 
Peruvian tomb, which when half filled with water and gently 
agitated, produce a whistling noise through the bills of the 
birds' heads that surmount the vessels. 

They made large bricks from clay and stubble, which 
were dried in the sun and then united together with a cement 
of tempered clay. They also used on some occasions, a 
mortar containing lime,* and another kind made of asphal- 
tum. {Humboldt. Res. i. 257.) 

In the ancient Peruvian tombs, (guacas) are still found 
when opened, various articles of their manufacture that had 
been interred with the dead. Ulloa [Voy. i. 494,) describes 
such things with some detail. They are mirrors made of 
th- Inca stone, and the Gallinazo stone:* those made from 
the first named material are as highly polished as could be 
done by the best European workmen. 

Idols and ornaments of gold are also found, exceedingly 
well cast, being made hollow and as thin as writing paper, 
without any marks of having been soldered. 

"Yet all we have said," (Ulloa) "is surpassed by the in- 
genuity with which they had wrought emeralds, these gems 
being found cut into various shapes, some spherical, others 
cylindrical, conical, and various other shapes, made with 
perfect accuracy and drilled through with all the delicacy of 

* The substance shewn to me as the Inca stone, is a marcasile. I have 
never seen the Gallinazo stone, but believe it to have been obsidian, from 
the various incidental oDservations made upon it by the Spanish writers. 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



367 



our European artists. It is an almost unsurmountable diffi- 
culty to explain how they could work a stone of such hard- 
ness." 

I presume they also worked crystallized quartz into vari- 
ous ornamental figures, and that the bracelet of the high 
priest, which was used to kindle their consecrated fires, was 
of this substance, cut into the shape of a convex lens. 

In some few instances at least, they made stone statues of 
their gods and Incas. (Herrera, iv. 298, 314.) 

They squared the stone used in their buildings with the 
greatest care and accuracy. It is doubtful whether they at- 
tained this end by simply rubbing them down to the desired 
shape, or whether they cut them with their copper chisels. 
Condamine (Humboldt, Res. i. 258,) says, "the stones used 
in the construction of the palace of Cannar, are of porphyry 
and so exquisitely cut, that the joints would be impercepti- 
ble but for a slight convexity of the exterior face, which no 
doubt was intended to be ornamental." 

We shall conclude this brief notice of their manufactures, 
with the single additional fact, that they also made salt from 
saline springs near Cuzco. (Garcilazo, 262.) 

The Peruvians, far exceeded any other demi-civilized peo- 
ple of America in their contrivances to save human labour. 
They had two species of animals trained to carry burthens; 
these were the Llama, Guanaco, or Huanacos, and the Paco, 
or Alpaco: according to our present nomenclature, Camelus 
Glama, and Paco. The common name Llama, is a gene- 
ric one among the Peruvians for several similar species of 
animals. (Garcilazo, 329,331.) 

Of the two, the Paco was much smaller and comparative- 
ly little used for the purpose of carriage. 

Along the sea coasts, the Peruvians made use of balsas 
or sailing rafts, for transporting commodities of various 
kinds. These were literally simple rafts made of logs of 
light wood, on which a large mat sail was hoisted. But by 
the ingenious device of lowering flat pieces of timber down 
into the water between the logs composing the raft, they 
were enabled, from the resistance thus made to sail close 
hauled on a wind. The principle is the same with that 
which has fitted "lee boards" to vessels of shallow drafts. 

But notwithstanding these improvements, and the magni- 
ficent roads that passed through the dominions of the Inca, 
the Peruvians were not a commercial people. They were 
restricted by law to particular labours for the common good, 
and therefore individual industry and activity being restrain- 
ed, the prosperity and happiness of the people was injured 



368 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



to a great degree. It may perhaps be an ill-placed observa- 
tion, but I cannot forbear remarking, that the general happi- 
ness of every people seems to be diminished just in propor- 
tion to the interference of government, in undertaking to 
regulate the industry of their people; which invariably for- 
ces it into directions contrary to what the state of society 
requires, and evidently would take, if left to individual in- 
terest and sagacity. 

Of the Architectural and Public Works of the Peru- 
vians. 

The palaces of the Incas, and the temples, were chiefly 
built of stones well polished, and joined together, sometimes 
without cement, in other instances with a real mortar of 
lime, sometimes with asphaltum, and not unfrequently they 
were bound together by melted lead, silver, or gold. 

In general, they did not make their buildings of more 
than one story, nor did they join room to room. Each 
house, therefore, consisted of one apartment only; but they 
were assembled so closely together, as to answer all the pur- 
poses of a suite of rooms. 

Most probably, this style of building continued unimprov- 
ed, from the circumstance of the country being often visited 
by dangerous earthquakes, which render loftier habitations 
more dangerous to the in-dwellers. That they knew how to 
construct buildings with several stories, is evident from the 
relation of Garcilazo, who says (Royal Commentaries^ 467) 
that at the entrance of the royal palace at Cuzco, was a 
tower four stories in height, and so lofty, that it exceeded 
any spire in Spain, but that of Seville. 

It is also observable, that after the walls were raised to 
the desired height, they erected pillars in the middle of the 
apartment when of large dimensions, to support the roofs; 
for they were ignorant of the art by which an inclined roof 
is constructed according to European carpentry. Neither 
did they use pins or nails to fasten down the beams and raf- 
ters, contenting themselves with tying them fast together 
with ropes of rushes. Over the rafters they laid a covering 
of straw thatch, which extended a yard or more beyond the 
walls. 

Some of their houses were very spacious, if Garcilazo be 
correct, when he says, that some measured about two hun- 
dred paces in length, and fifty or sixty in breadth. As sev- 
eral such mentioned by him were roofed, he expresses much 
surprize how they found timber sufficiently long for that 
purpose. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



369 



Besides stone walls, they also built them with brick dried 
in the sun. These bricks were made by ramming clay mix- 
ed with straw into large cases or moulds. They were of 
very large size in comparison with those used by ourselves; 
for Garcilazo says, the smallest were about a yard long, one 
sixth of a yard in breadth and thickness. After they were 
made, they were dried in the sun, and kept from the wea- 
ther for two or three years; when they used them, they were 
cemented together with well tempered clay. 

Notwithstanding the assertions of Acosta and Garcilazo, 
the Peruvians certainly did know how to construct arches 
and vaults; for many of their ancient tombs are vaulted, 
(ceintrees) as also the subterranean passages of the fortress 
of Cuzco. (Mem. Philos. Don Ulloa, ii. 457, Notes, fyc.) 

The temples were built of stone, in a similar manner 
with the palaces of the Incas; but it is impossible to des- 
cribe them from the vague account given by Garcilazo, who 
indeed declares, he was ignorant of the dimensions of the 
one at Cuzco, and therefore makes no estimate. What little 
we are able to say on this subject, will be introduced in our 
observations on the religious system of this people. 

The Inca Huayna Capac, the father of Atahualpa, more 
commonly called Atabilipa, has the reputation of having 
constructed, or perhaps rather of having completed, two im- 
mense roads which extended from Cuzco to Quito, a distance 
of about 1500 miles. One of these roads lay along the 
plains, while the other passed over the mountains. Though 
Europeans have persuaded themselves that these roads were 
merely "staked paths/' Baron Humboldt (Res. i. 241) 
describes the mountain road in the following language. 
"We were surprised to find at this place, (Paramo del As- 
suay) and at heights which greatly surpass the top of the 
Peak of Teneriffe, the magnificent remains of a road con- 
structed by the Incas of Peru. This causeway, lined with 
free stone, may be compared to the finest Roman roads I 
have seen in Italy, France or Spain; it is perfectly straight, 
and keeps the same direction for 6 or 8,000 metres, (four or 
five miles.) We observed the continuation of this road near 
Caxamarca, 120 leagues to the south of Assuay, and it is 
believed in the country that it led as far as the city of 
Cuzco. " 

The road along the plains, appears to have been an earth- 
en road, much inferior in point of execution, to the one we 
have described. 

These roads were emphatically royal roads, for none 
travelled them except upon the Inca's business. Other per- 



370 ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 

sons that ventured to use them, unless for very short dis- 
tances, were taken up as vagabonds and punished. {Garci- 
lazo, 145.) 

On various parts of these roads, as well as on other high- 
ways, the Peruvians made bridges for passing rivers and 
chasms. Most commonly they were of the kind called 
hanging bridges, in which a number of strong ropes of 
vines, rushes, &c. were stretched over the place to be cross- 
ed, and being tied together, enabled persons to walk over in 
safety. 

At other times, a single stout rope was stretched across, to 
w 7 hich a hammock was slung on loose rings: the passenger 
being placed in it, was drawn over by lines affixed to its 
ends. 

It appears from Gomara, quoted by Garcilazo, page 570, 
that the Peruvians had also erected a few stone bridges. 

Humboldt (Researches, ii. 75,) says, the ancient Peruvi- 
ans also constructed bridges of wood, supported by piers of 
stone; though they commonly satisfied themselves with those 
made of ropes. 

At convenient distances along these roads, tambos, or 
houses for the accommodation of the Inca and his suite, were 
erected, at which he sojourned when travelling through the 
various provinces of his empire. For a description of one of 
these monuments, see Humboldt's Researches, i. 240, &c. 

These tambos were also, according to Garcilazo, maga- 
zines or storehouses, in which a part of the agricultural pro- 
duce of the country was annually laid up for public uses. 

The Incas had swift runners stationed along the roads, at 
about a quarter of a league distance apart, who carried or- 
ders or intelligence to or from the capital. Each messenger, 
after running his appointed distance, communicated either 
verbally, or by means of the quippos, whatever they were 
required to despatch. 

These couriers ran so quick, that the Inca at Cuzco, was 
accustomed to receive fresh fish from the sea for the use of 
his table, in about two days, though the distance exceeds 
three hundred miles. (Acosta, Nat. and Mor. Hist. 468. 
Herrerq, iv. 333.) 

The more arid parts of the Peruvian empire, were sup- 
plied with water for agricultural purposes by means of long 
aqueducts or canals, which Garcilazo, [Royal Comment. 
173.) describes to have been constructed in the following 
manner: Cisterns were built in the mountains to collect the 
water, which was then conducted through channels made of 
hewn stones, about two yards long, and one in height, which 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



371 



were cemented together and rammed down with clay so 
hard and tight, that the water could not pass through the in- 
terstices. These canals wound round the mountains, and 
extended into the plains, and at suitable points, the water 
could be drawn off to irrigate the cultivated lands. 

One Of these canals, according to the above writer, was 
120, and another 150 leagues in length. The Spaniards 
have permitted them to fall into ruins, yet traces of them are 
still to be seen. 

Stevenson {Trav. S. Jlmer. i. 412,) says, that at Huaura, 
(about eighty miles north of Lima) vestiges of the old Pe- 
ruvian canals are still visible, in which the waters of the 
Huaura river were brought the distance of ten leagues. 

Of the Wars of the Peruvians. 

Carcilazo represents the offensive wars of the Incas with 
adjoining nations, to have had no other end than that they 
might be civilized. He says, they first endeavoured to per- 
suade such nations to receive their religion and social system, 
which if rejected, they then attempted to starve them into 
compliance, and as a dernier resort only, gave battle when 
the preceding means did not produce the desired change. 

Though we give no credence to such disinterested motives 
as are here claimed for the military operations of the Incas, 
we must do them the justice to state, that their wars appear 
to have been less ferocious and sanguinary, than those of any 
other half civilized people belonging to either the eastern or 
western continent; which is perhaps the highest praise we 
can give to their social institutions. 

When a nation became subjected to the Inca, they were 
put under the common law of the land, and carefully in- 
structed in their religious faith,* in agriculture, and other 
arts possessed by the Peruvians. They were also required 
to learn the language of the Incas, (Qquichua,) and for these 
purposes persons were sent from Cuzco to teach them. 

The armies of the Peruvians appear to have been made by 
drafting levies en masse, though on this point I have not 
been able to get any exact information. 

The officers were of various ranks; some commanding ten, 
others fifty, five hundred, or a thousand men. The generals 
or chief officers were appointed by the Inca. 

Their weapons were slings, which they used with great 
effect, (Herrera, v. 25,) bows and arrows, lances, darts, pole- 

* Garcilazo 149, says, the principal idol of every subdued people was car- 
ried as if a captive to Cuzco, to shew its inferiority to the power of the sue 
and the Inca. 



372 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



axes, clubs, macanas, &c. They also used the lazo or noose, 
the bolas, and instruments like the pogamoggon, all of which 
we have described at page 134. 

I have met with no account of their having used shields 
or any other defensive armour; though Garcilazo says they 
manufactured helmets and targets. 

The Peruvians do not appear to have taken any trophy 
from the vanquished. But some of the adjacent nations 
flayed the dead and stuffed their skins with ashes. This was 
done once by an Inca, (Herrera, iv. 307,) but it is a rare in- 
stance. 

The young men of the Inca's lineage, underwent a certain 
initiation before they were admitted to the privileges of 
manhood. The ceremony chiefly consisted in their fasting 
for several days on the smallest quantity of food necessary 
to support life, in running up steep ascents, combatting with 
each other with blunted weapons, in privation from sleep, 
and in the infliction of voluntary wounds, &c. until the time 
appointed for their probation was fulfilled. If any one was 
unable to bear the rigor of these exercises he was considered 
disgraced. Garcilazo says, that none but the Inca's sons 
were admitted to these trials. 

Those who distinguished themselves during their proba- 
tion, had their ears bored and distended to a large size, and 
various ornaments and insignia were given them. 

It was the persons thus distinguished, whom the Spaniards 
called knights of an order of chivalry. 

The military works of the Peruvians, were chiefly walls 
of rough stone laid together without cement. The fortress 
of Cuzco, which seems to have been the greatest work of 
this kind, is described by Garcilazo, as being constructed of 
three immense walls or ramparts surrounding a hill.* He 
says, it was built rather of rocks than stones; to which fact 
Acosta (Nat. and Mor. Hist 460,) bears witness; for he 
measured some stones in the wall, that were thirty feet in 
length, eighteen in breadth, and six in thickness. In the 
intervening spaces between these stones, others of smaller 
sizes were fitted, so that the walls were in a manner smooth 
and perpendicular. 

The outer wall, is stated to have been about twelve hun- 
dred feet in compass. Through the walls were gates which 
communicated with the innermost part of the fortress, where, 
according to Garcilazo, were three strong towers, two of 
which were square, and one round. The latter was appro- 

* Hills or mountains fortified by walls of earth or stone, were called Pu- 
curas, and are so common in Quito, according to Ulloa, (Voy. i. 504,) that one 
scarcely meets a hill without them. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



373 



priated to the use of the Inca, the two former were for the 
lodging of the garrison. Under the towers were subterra- 
neous passages of great extent communicating with each 
other. Schneider (Ulloa, Mem. Philos. ii. 457,) says, they 
were vaulted, (ceintrees.) 

In the midst of this fortification, was a fountain affording 
a plentiful supply of water, which had been providently 
brought by the Inca in pipes under the ground, from some 
source in the neighbourhood, which these sagacious princes 
kept secret from the people. 

Of the Astronomy and Learning of the Peruvians. 

The Peruvians, according to all the accounts that have 
reached our times, seem to have been very much inferior to 
the Mexicans in the correctness of their astronomical sys- 
tem. I have some doubt, however, whether their calendar 
arrangement has been correctly described by the early Spa- 
nish writers. Even the little they have been pleased to com- 
municate, has been done in so vague and unsatisfactory a man- 
ner, that I have not been able to ascertain the names of their 
months, nor their precise number of days. 

Now, as the Peruvians made by means of towers constant 
azimuth observations on the sun's rising and setting, and 
also upon the shadows cast by pillars at the times of the 
equinoxes and solstices, I cannot easily perceive a reason for 
the great inaccuracy of their year as it has been represented 
to us; and I am therefore inclined to think, that only some 
grosser part of their calendar has been preserved. In this 
opinion I am further seemingly strengthened, by not finding 
the Spanish writers to describe any cycle of years to have 
been used by them, which the nature of their observations 
would hardly have permitted them to dispense with. 

We are unable, however, to furnish any evidence to sup- 
port this opinion, and shall therefore with the preceding ex- 
pression of doubtfulness, proceed to describe the Peruvian 
calendar from the best authorities attainable to our means. 

Herrera, [Hist. Jimer. iv. 348,) says, "their year was di- 
vided into twelve months, distinguished by their several 
names; and particular festivals appointed in each of them. 
The year began in January, till one of the Incas ordered it 
should commence in December, at which time they celebrat- 
ed their greatest festival." 

"Their year, as has been said, consisted of twelve months 
or moons, and they threw in the twelve days over and above 
the moons among the said months; and to keep their reckon- 
48 



374 ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



ing orderly, they had twelve little pillars or columns placed 
on the hills about Cuzco at such distances, that each of them 
every month shewed where the sun did rise, and where he 
did set, and by them they gave out their festivals, and the 
seasons for sowing, reaping," &c. 

Garcilazo (Royal Comment. 44,) says, that they also 
erected pillars of marble in the area before the temple of the 
sun, and by measuring the shadows that fell on the smooth 
ground, they ascertained the times of the equinoxes and 
solstices, when festivals were held in honor of the sun. 

The same writer further remarks, that as their month and 
a lunation were synonymous, the "weeks they called quarters 
of the moon." I rather consider Garcilazo erroneous in 
this subdivision of the month into fourths; for in another 
page he relates, that the Inca Pachacutec ordered the mar- 
kets to be held every nine days, which seemingly implies a 
division of the month into thirds. These market days, like 
the nundinse of the ancient Romans, were also in a manner 
their court days for public business. 

The Peruvians, unlike the Mexicans, were ignorant of the 
causes of eclipses, for they supposed the planets at such times 
to be sick. 

They particularly distinguished the planet Venus, some of 
the brighter fixed stars, the pleiades, the milky way, &c. to 
all of which they gave certain names, and imagined them 
for the most part to be, or to represent, various animals which 
they were accustomed to meet with in Peru. 

With this meagre account of Peruvian astronomy, we 
have been obliged to content ourselves. It involves no mat- 
ters of curious investigation, being analogous in its features 
to the years of all other nations using the moon as their 
measure of time. But as the Peruvians measured the equi- 
noxial and solstitial shadows thrown by the sun, they were 
enabled to correct their time, which it would seem was done 
by the intercalation of eleven or twelve days in every year. 
I cannot therefore but infer, that either their solar observa- 
tions had been practised but a short time before the Spanish 
conquest, and that they had not multiplied them sufficiently 
to have made a more correct system, or that their more sci- 
entific calendar has perished under their European oppressors. 

The Peruvians were also far behind the Mexicans in their 
system of recording historic events; for they not only were 
ignorant of alphabetical writing, but they made no use of 
hieroglyphics or paintings. 

The quippos by which they attempted to supply these de- 
ficiencies, were cords of various colours, upon which they 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



375 



tied different kinds of knots, which but simply reminded 
them of some event, fact, or circumstance, important or in- 
teresting to them, when such and such a knot was tied. The 
system, however far it may have been carried, was nothing more 
than the plan I have seen adopted by some of my acquain- 
tances, who tie a knot in their handkerchiefs, when they 
propose doing something they are fearful of forgetting.* 

In like manner they used small stones of various kinds 
and colours, as may be seen in Acosta, (Nat. and Mor. Hist. 
450,) who, however, seems to have considered the device 
much more perfect than it is possible to have been. 

The wampum belts of the North American Indians are 
of the same nature, and it is probable, similar devices have 
prevailed very generally among other nations. Gili (Hum- 
boldt, Pers. Nar. vi. 29,) is said to have observed the quip- 
pos in use among the Indians on the banks of the river Oro~ 
noco. 

The Ardrasians, a nation on the slave coast of Africa, 
(Mod. Univ. Hist. xiii. 363,) "use a small cord tied in 
knots, to each of which they affix certain ideas, and by this 
means convey their sentiments to a distance." 

The islanders of the Indian ocean, (Craivfurd, Ind. 
Jlrchip. i. 253,) "keep a certain remembrance of things by 
tying knots on a cord, or by cutting notches on slips of 
wood." 

Knotted cords like the quippos, were anciently used in 
China for similar purposes. It is stated in the Yih-king 
(Morrison, Chin. Diet. i. 592,) that "in high antiquity 
knotted cords were employed by government, but in subse- 
quent ages the sages exchanged them for written documents 
or books." 

There was a certain class of men among the Peruvians 
called *flmautas, translated "philosophers" by Garcilazo, 
"who taught something of poetry, music, philosophy and 
astrology, as far as they were able," to the children of the 
Incas and the nobility. Commoners, were excluded from 
these schools, where it is said the Inca himself sometimes 
delivered an address or lecture. 

I suppose it was this class of men to whom Herrera (Hist. 
JLmer. iv. 331,) alludes, when he says, that when the Incas 
died, there were "discreet men of note whose business it 
was to relate their actions if they deserved it, and they com- 
posed of them very regular songs and ballads to be learnt of 
all persons," &c. 

* Skinner (Present Slate of Peru, 17,) says, the Peruvian shepherds still 
make use of the quippos to reckon the number, increase, or diminution of 
their flocks. For this purpose it will answer very well. 



376 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



Garcilazo {Boy at Comment, 49,) also says, the Amaulas 
"invented comedies and tragedies, which on their solemn 
festivals they represented before the Inca and the lords of 
his court. The actors were not men of the common sort^ 
but Curacas, or some of the young nobility and officers of 
the army, who each acted his own part. The plot or argu- 
ment of their tragedies, was to represent their military ex- 
ploits and the triumphs, victories, and heroic actions of their 
renowned men. The subject or design of their comedies, 
was to demonstrate the manner of good husbandry in culti- 
vating and manuring their fields, to shew the management 
of domestic affairs, with other familiar matters." 

If Garcilazo has not exaggerated the bragadocio declara- 
tions of the nobility on public occasions, concerning their 
ability and success in war, as was practised among the Flo- 
rida nations, (page 165) his relation is very curious, and is 
the only instance 1 have yet met with, in which theatrical 
exhibitions might appear to arise from incidents of civil life* 
Among all other nations, as far as we are informed, such 
things proceeded from religious scenical representations and 
processions. 

Neither Garcilazo nor Herrera state whether the Amautas 
were priests, or of the priestly order; but according to the 
analogies afforded by other nations we may presume this was 
the case. 

Of the Social Habits of the Peruvians. 

The Peruvians, seem to have enjoyed little of that plea- 
sant intercourse with each other, which in civilized coun- 
tries is considered the chief gratification of the social com- 
pact. In truth, their society resembled that of monastic in- 
stitutions, in which every particular of life is regulated, and 
punishments inflicted when certain bounds are transgressed. 
Hence their general character was melancholy and timorous, 
awaiting orders to do any thing that might be necessary; 
and in great submission to their rulers, whom they consi- 
dered a race superior to themselves. 

The great body of the people were indigent, living chief- 
ly upon grain and pulse raised by their own labour, and in 
times of scarcity being furnished with food from the public 
granaries. They eat very little meat, and that chiefly at the 
great annual hunting matches, of which we have already 
made brief mention, page 364. At these times, when the 
animals producing wool were shorn and suffered to escape, 
others such as deer, &c. were killed, and their flesh was dis- 
tributed among the people. 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



377 



They cut this meat into thongs and slices, which were 
dried in the sun, and thus preserved for a long time.* 

They appear to have domesticated in their houses, to a 
small extent, some of the rabbits of the country, which they 
occasionally used for food, as also a species of duck or goose= 
{Garcilazo, 334.) 

I believe they did not domesticate any other animals for 
mere purposes of food. 

In general, they simply boiled their maize, or parched it 
over the fire to prepare it for food; but at other times, they 
made bread from meal, which was procured by crushing 
the grains between two stones,t rudely fashioned, so as to 
facilitate the manipulation. 

They carefully'dried the potato, in which state it kept a 
long time, and was considered good food. 

They used salt with their food, made from salt springs 
near the city of Cuzco. 

They made sweet syrups from the stalks of maize, and 
from the maguey plant. 

They prepared an intoxicating drink, according to Garci- 
lazo, by steeping maize in water until it sprouted. It was 
then mashed and boiled in the same water. After a time, 
they drew the liquid off, and set it by for a few days, when 
it acquired from fermentation, intoxicating qualities. The 
manufacture of this drink called Vinnapu, was forbidden 
by the Inca. 

A more common and intoxicating drink, in taste resem- 
bling cider, was used by them under the name of Jlcua or 
Chicha, the filthy preparation of which, we have remarked 
to have been widely extended among the South American 
nations, and the islanders of the Pacific ocean. 

The chicha, was prepared by a number of persons chew- 
ing the dried grains of maize, quinoa, &c, and then spitting 
the champed grain into a vessel prepared for the purpose : 
water was then poured on, and the whole left to ferment. 
Acosta says, that "the chicha made from grain, which had 
been chewed by old withered women, which makes a man 
sick to hear, was reputed the best." 

Concerning the analogous practices of the South sea islan- 
ders, the reader will please refer to page 96. 

Don Ulloa remarks, [Voy. i. 422) that though drunken- 

*The Peruvians called this dried meat Charqui, from which I presume, we 
have made our term, "Jerked," as applied to the dried beef we receive 
from South America. 

fGarcilazo describes the Peruvians to be acquainted with the pestle and 
mortar for bruising their corn, but that it was considered more laborious 
than to use stones for crushing the grain. 



378 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &.C. 



ness was a notorious vice among the Indians of Peru; yet, it 
was worthy of notice, that the women, whether married or 
not, and young men not of sufficient age to contract matri- 
mony, entirely abstained from this vice; it being a maxim 
among them, that drunkenness was only the privilege of 
masters of families, as being persons, who, when unable to 
take care of themselves, have those about them to render 
them that service. 

Among other Peruvian gratifications, we must take no- 
tice of the use they made of the leaves of a plant called by 
them coca or cocu. They wrapped up in these leaves 
the ashes of burnt bones, lime, or marly earth, and chew- 
ed this mixture constantly, under the idea that it supported 
their strength and rendered them capable of greater exer- 
tions. [Acosia Nat. and Mor. Hist. 273. Ulloa Voy. 
i. 360.) The latter says, "the coca is exactly the same 
with the betel of the East Indians; the plant, the leaf, the 
manner of using it are the same." Stevenson (Trav. South 
Jimer. ii. 63,) says, the coca leaves are those of a small tree 
resembling the orange tree in appearance. 

Tobacco, though known to the Peruvians, was but little 
used, and that as far as I have been able to learn, only medi- 
cinally as snuff. It is most probable, that the use of the 
cocu prevailed to its exclusion. 

Their musical instruments appear to have been very few 
and simple. Garcilazo only mentions the Syrinx, and flutes 
with four or five stops; and on one occasion, the beating a 
drum during a festival, is mentioned by him and Herrera. 

At their festivals, they sung odes and songs, and danced. 
I presume these dances were pantomimic, exhibiting the em- 
ployments of life, the stratagems of war and hunting, [Gar. 
Roy. Corn. 110, 224.) 

Their sedentary games appear to have been few, a circum- 
stance remarked by Ulloa. He describes one which we 
shall notice from its resemblance to our .dice. It is played 
with a bone cut with seven faces, one of which counts te?i 9 
another is blank, and the other five are marked from one to 
five with as many points or dots. The manner of playing, 
is to toss up this bone and count the mark on the upper face. 
Whoever first counts a hundred, wins the game. (Ulloa 
Voy. i. 424.) 

Of the Marriages of the Peruvians. 

It is presumable, that female chastity was not held in 
greater honour among the Peruvians than among other 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



379 



American nations, a trait which is common enough among 
all rude nations, wherever they may be found. 

The laws of the Incas permitted public prostitutes; 
though according to Garcilazo, [Roy. Comment. 114,) they 
were accounted infamous. Don Ulloa (Voy, i. 429,) des- 
cribes the men to manifest a perfect indifference upon the 
subject of virginity, in the persons of their brides, which, 
perhaps, did not belong to them in an equal degree, when 
under the dominion of their Incas. But even in those more 
ancient times, incontinence prevailed to such an extent, that 
to prevent the commission of infanticide, the Incas (Herrera, 
iv. 341,) established foundling hospitals, in which infants 
were received without inquiry, and w T ere brought up at the 
Inca's expense, until of sufficient age to be employed in his 
service. 

Every two years, the Inca commanded an account to be 
taken of all the young men belonging to his lineage, be- 
tween twenty and twenty-four years of age, and of all the 
girls between eighteen and twenty. He then taking the 
hands of each couple, whom we presume, had previously 
selected each other, joined their hands together, which con- 
stituted the nuptial ceremony.* 

Houses were furnished the new married persons by the 
provinces, and their own parents and relations supplied 
them with the various articles of housewifery. 

The common people were married in a similar manner, 
by the Curaca or Lord of the district, who joined their 
hands as was done by the Inca as above stated. Their 
houses were built by the community to which they belong- 
ed, and were furnished by their kindred and friends. 

It was not lawful to marry out of their own province or 
tribe, though they might choose any one among these except- 
ing their sisters. 

Matrimony was prohibited in the first degree of consan- 
guinity to all persons but the reigning Incas, who were re- 
quired to marry their eldest sisters. The Inca Huyana Ca- 
pac, by special law, allowed the curacas or nobility to marry 
their half sisters, as a great privilege. (Herrera, iv. 330.) 

Notwithstanding Garcilazo's express declaration that the 
Peruvians were permitted but one wife, Herrera (Hist. Jimer. 
iv. 330, 342,) says, it was no offence to have several wives, 
and that the nobility indulged themselves with large harems. 

*Acosta and Herrera describe the nuptial ceremony, to consist in the 
bridegroom putting a shoe on the bride; but Garcilazo, with seeming pro- 
bability, says this was a custom in some of the provinces only, and not the 
proper Peruvian formula, 



380 ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



Adultery of the wife was punished with death, but not so in 
the case of the concubine. 

From Ulloa {Voy. i. 430,) we learn, that married persons 
very easily divorced themselves from one another, which 
though an observation of but a few years back, we are inclin- 
ed to think from the permanency of all Indian customs, was 
equally the fact during the reigns of the Incas. 

Of the Funeral Ceremonies of the Peruvians. 

Like all other nations that we have heard of, the Peruvians 
believed in the immortality of the soul, and though no rela- 
tions have descended to our times, describing their peculiar 
ideas concerning the nature of the future state, yet from cer- 
emonies used at their funerals we may safely infer, that they 
considered it nearly analogous to our present state of exist- 
ence, but in which the good alone should enjoy happiness and 
abundance, and the bad be forced to endure a state of being, 
much inferior even to the diversified conditions of the pre- 
sent life. 

When the Inca or any person of consequence died, their 
bodies were embowelled and then gradually dried.* The 
bowels of the Inca were interred at a temple about five leagues 
distant from Cuzco, and with them were buried his arms, 
garments, and such other things as had been useful to him 
whilst alive. Many of his domestics were also put to death 
and buried in the same grave, that they might render their 
wonted services to him in the invisible world. 

The bodies of the Incas when perfectly desicated, were 
placed in a sitting position before the image of the sun at the 
temple of Cuzco, where sacrifices were offered to them. 

They not only made great lamentations over their dead, 
but it would seem they also used mourning clothes, which, 
according to Garcilazo {Roy. Comment. 357,) were of a grey 
colour.t 

From the multitude of tumuli still existing in Peru, and 

* Acosta says, the Peruvians embalmed their dead Incas 1 'with a certain 
rosin:" but Garcilazo, who had seen such bodies, declares he perceived no 
such substance, and expressly states, that he considers the manner to preserve 
dead bodies, is to dry them gradually on cold mountains. In such situations 
he says, the flesh of animals is preserved from putrefaction as long as we 
please. 

In another place he remarks, that at Cuzco, flesh if hung up in an airy 
situation, will, if kept long enough, be dried like mummy, an experiment 
he had himself made. 

f Though Garcilazo says, "mourning weeds," I am not certain but this grey 
dress was rather worn as a mark of humiliation by the Inca, on the occur- 
rence of general misfortune, than as indicative of the loss of friends by 
death. 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



381 



which are from lime to time laid open, we may learn that the 
general practice among this people was to bury, not burn their 
dead. The corpses are found sitting on a low seat, or in a 
squatting posture, (accroupis) with food, utensils, &c. placed 
before them. (Ulloa, Mem. Philos. ii. 447.) 

These tombs are mounds of very different degrees of mag- 
nitude, according to the rank of the individual interred be- 
neath. They are found all over the kingdom, but are re- 
markably numerous within the jurisdiction of the town of 
Cayambe, ( Ulloa, Voy. i. 492,) its plains being as it were 
nearly covered with them. This frequency of tumuli, arises 
from the fact that a principal temple of these people was 
anciently erected there, whose proximity was supposed to 
sanctify the adjacent country. 

As we have already alluded to those customs among other 
nations that seem analogous to the Peruvian funeral ceremo- 
nies, we forbear to again enumerate them at this time. 

Boguer [Mem. Philos. Ulloa, ii. 434,) describes sepul- 
chral mounds in Peru, that are forty feet high by seventy 
fathoms (brases) in length, and forty in breadth. They are 
traversed by long passages, by which we arrive at the bodies. 

Bayer describes some tombs made of hewn stone, three or 
four ells square and from three to six in height, covered with 
flat stones. 

But, perhaps, the most curious of these tombs, are those 
made of sun-dried brick, which are said to be vaulted (voutes) 
like the tops of bread ovens; (la forme etoit en cul-de-four) 
and which proves that the architectural knowledge of this 
people, was much superior to what has been allowed them by 
Garcilazo, Acosta, and others. (Mem. Philos. Ulloa, ii. 
458, notes.) 

Of the Religion of the Peruvians. 

We have already observed, that the Peruvians believed in 
the immortality of the soul, and its reward or punishment 
according to virtuous or evil actions performed during life. 
But of what nature the rewards or punishments were, has not 
been related by any of the writers on this subject accessible 
to me. Acosta (Nat. and Mor. Hist. 345,) contents himself 
with saying, that they believed "the good were in glory, and 
the bad in pain;" but he adds nothing more to this, than that 
there is no difficulty in teaching them this doctrine of the 
christian faith. 

Herrera (Hist. Jlmer. iv. 348,) informs us, that the Peru- 
vians at certain times made confessions of their sins; where- 
by we learn the nature of those offences that they considered 
49 



382 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



obnoxious to divine displeasure, These were "killing, when 
it was not in war, stealing, taking another man's wife, poison- 
ing or bewitching, neglect of the service of the gods, break- 
ing their festivals, and speaking ill of the Inca, or not being 
obedient to him; but they did not confess any inward sins." 

As we have already discoursed upon the phrase "confes- 
sion of sins," we beg leave to refer the reader to page 309, 
for some observations on that subject. 

The Peruvians, according to Acosta, [Nat. and Mor. Hist. 
333,) worshipped a supreme God, whom they called Viraco- 
cha, the etymology of which we are unable to detect.* He 
was also known by the appellations of Pachacamac,sow/ of the 
world, Usapu, admirable, and other names. 

Garcilazo {Roy. Comment. 29,) says, he was considered 
as the giver of life, sustainer and nourisher of all things, but 
because they did not see him, they erected no temples to him 
nor offered sacrifices; however they worshipped him in their 
hearts, and esteemed him for the unknown God. 

We incline to the opinion, that Viracocha was the more 
ancient deity of the Peruvians previous to the time of Manco 
Capac, who in remodifying the national religion of the coun- 
try, exalted the worship of the sun above that of other dei- 
ties. We shall presently make some observations upon this 
subject, and state the few reasons we have for making this 
supposition. 

But generally speaking, the sun was the great object of 
Peruvian idolatry during the dominion of the Incas.t Its 
worship was the most solemn, and its temples the most 
splendid in their furniture and decorations, and the common 
people no doubt reverenced that luminary as their chief god. 

A very remarkable circumstance in their worship of the 
sun is mentioned by Herrera, (Hist. */2mer. iv. 34S,) and 

*The Spaniards consider the word Viracocha, signifies foam of the sea, but 
Garcilazo, who was a native Indian, positively denies this etymology, though 
he seems to be ignorant of its import, as he gives us no information on the 
point in question. 

f From the account we have given of the origin of the Incas, it is evident 
they represented themselves to be descendants from the sun, and that it was 
a part of their policy to represent that luminary as the chief god of Peru. 
Cut though this doctrine had prevailed to that degree that the Incas them- 
selves participated in the common delusion, yet the twelfth Inca, Huayna 
€apac, a man of superior intelligence, by the force of strong natural parts 
saw reason to doubt the general opinion, and according to Garcilazo, (Roy. 
Comment. 365,) made the following ingenious observation. "There must be 
some other, whom our father the sun takes and esteems for a more supreme 
and powerful lord than himself; by whose commands he every day measures 
the compass of the heavens without any intermission or hour of repose; for 
if he were absolute and at his own disposal, he would certainly allot himself 
some time of cessation, though it were [only to please his own humour and 
fancy, without other consideration than that of liberty and change." 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



383 



other writers, which shews that the Peruvians blended with 
their solar worship other matters of ancient and significant 
import. At one of their festivals, when that bloody and 
consecrated bread was eaten, which we shall presently de- 
scribe, they exhibited three statues of the sun, each of which 
had a particular name, which, as translated by Herrera, were 
Father and Lord Sun, the Son Sun, and the Brother Sun. 
He moreover says, that at Chucuisaca, they worshipped an 
idol called Tangatanga, which they said was three and one. 

The Spanish writers consider this doctrine to have been 
one stolen by the devil from our divine religion, and im- 
parted by him to this people. By this opinion they evident- 
ly declare its antiquity in Peru to have been greater than the 
time of the Spanish conquest. 

As we can perceive no reason to think the doctrine of the 
trinity as taught in the Christian religion, was known dur- 
ing the patriarchal or judaical dispensations, we cannot be- 
lieve that the trinity of the Peruvians, has any reference to 
that dogma of our religion; and to suppose that christians 
had reached Peru before the time of Pizarro, is purely a 
gratuitous hypothesis unsupported by facts of any kind. 

We therefore presume their trinity to be founded in those 
early corruptions of patriarchal history, in which men began 
to represent Adam, and his three sons; and Noah, and his 
three sons; as being triplicates of the same essential person , 
who originally was the universal father of the human race: 
and secondly, being triplicated in their three sons, who also 
were considered the fathers of mankind. But as we have 
already discoursed on this subject, we must refer our readers 
to page 320, where we have endeavoured to exhibit the Rev. 
Mr. Faber's views on this curious subject, which we consi- 
der explains it very happily. 

The moon was considered by the Peruvians as the wife of 
the sun; and to her sacrifices were made of a similar nature. 

The planets, the pleiades, and stars in general, were es- 
teemed handmaids and servants to the moon, and as such 
received homage. 

Acosta {Nat. and Mor. Hist. 336,) says, the shepherds 
worshipped the constellation Lyra, which they imagined to 
be of the form of a lama, and considered it to exert a guar- 
dian influence over their flocks. They supposed other stars 
or constellations exercised control over serpents; others, 
over different kinds of wild beasts; and in fact that every 
animal on the earth was governed by one placed in the hea- 
vens, whose form and shape they imagined could be traced 
among the stars. 



384 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C, 



Thunder, lightning, and the rainbow, were also objects 
of religious veneration, and to which sacrifices were offered. 

Thunder, or the deity producing thunder, partook of the 
triplicated character, being known to them by three different 
names. They supposed it was occasioned by a deity in hea- 
ven armed with a sling and club, who held under his con- 
trolling power, the rain, hail, thunder, and other meteorolo- 
gical phenomena. (Jicosta, Nat. and Mor. Hist. 335.) 

Acosta further says, they worshipped the earth, the sea, 
and any natural object that seemed remarkable and pecu- 
liar in its character; throwing garments, feathers, food, &c. 
before it as their offerings, If too poor or destitute to make 
such donations, they cast a stone in the same manner. It 
was from this circumstance, that heaps of stone, like the 
Mercurial heaps of the ancients, have been observed in vari- 
ous parts of the country. 

The evil spirit of the Peruvians, was called Cupay, and 
whose name was always mentioned by them with signs of 
detestation, and by spitting on the ground. (Garcilazo, 
Roy. Comment. 29.) But we have no intimation given us, 
in what manner he was supposed to exert his influence; nor 
are we told whether they ever attempted to propitiate him. 

The Peruvians, unlike the Mexicans, made few idolatrous 
images, except those of the sun and moon. Acosta (Nat. 
and Mor. Hist. 414,) says, that when they celebrated their 
festival of Yntip Raymi, "they made many images of carved 
quinua wood, all attired with rich garments;" but he does 
not state in what forms these images were made, nor whom 
they represented.* 

Idols of gold and silver, or human figures of those metals, 
supposed to have been idols, are occasionally found among 
the ancient monuments of Peru, but we know nothing in 
reality concerning their use or object. 

The Inca Viracocha erected a temple to the god of that 
name, who appeared to him in a bodily shape, and promised 
him a great victory over an enemy then encamped in the 
Peruvian territory. In this temple, an image of stone was 
placed, representing the god in the dress and manner in 
which he condescended to be seen. This image (Garcilazo, 
169,) was that of a man, with a beard about a span long, his 
clothes reaching to his feet, not wide and full, but something 

* Skinner (Pres. State of Peru, 259,) remarks that the Peruvians had house- 
hold-gods, which were called canopas, or guasicamayoc: (lords of the house.) 
They also set up stones in their fields and plantations, which were worship- 
ped as protectors of their crops, &c. These stones appear to have been 
without shape or animal resemblance. I do not know who Skinner's author- 
ity was for these statements; they are, however, probably correct. 



ON THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



3S5 



scanty like a cassock. About his neck, a strange kind of 
animal was chained, which had claws like a lion, (the ja- 
guar. ) One of the links of the chain was placed in the hand 
of the image. 

The Spaniards demolished the temple, and defaced the 
image, but Garcilazo says, it was to be seen in his time, in 
its mutilated condition. 

Garcilazo {Roy. Comment. 30.) declares that in one of 
the royal apartments (called holy) of the Inca at Cuzco, 
was a cross made of white marble, whose arms were all of 
the same size; but he does not state its length. This cross, 
which was hung up to the wall by a golden chain, was held 
in great veneration, though it was not worshipped. 

As there is no other information given us of this cross, 
but that it was of greater antiquity than the times of the 
Spaniards, we cannot undertake to urge any considerations 
on its use or meaning. But, that it is not an insulated fact 
in the history of aboriginal America, we refer the reader 
back to page 322, where we have discussed this subject at 
some length. 

Whatever else we can learn of the religion of the Peru- 
vians, must be derived from the imperfect descriptions that 
have been given to us concerning their temples, priests, re- 
ligious festivals &c. which, though but meagre in their de- 
tails, will enable us to estimate, in a tolerable degree, this 
part of their institutions. 

Though guacas, or temples, were numerous throughout the 
Peruvian dominions, I have not been able to meet with any 
description of them, that conveys any just idea of their con- 
struction. It would seem that they were all dedicated to 
the worship of the sun, except in the single instance of the 
temple erected by the Inca Viracocha to the divinity of that 
name. 

The temple of Pachacamac, that anciently made the val- 
ley in which Lima is now built so famous, was not an erec- 
tion of the Incas, but of a nation or people called Yuncas, 
who were subdued by them. As Pachacamac is a synonyme 
of Viracocha, we presume the edifice was consecrated to his 
service; but as it was not of Peruvian workmanship, we 
forbear for the present, to speak concerning its plan. 

Garcilazo {Royal Comment. 87,) informs us the princi- 
pal temple of the sun was at Cuzco, and that it was built of 
free-stone; but as he was ignorant of its exact dimensions, 
he has forebore to make any estimate, and hardly any des- 
cription of the building. We are unable to supply these 
deficiencies, but conjecture that this temple, like the palace 



386 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



of the Inca, consisted of several different buildings, closely 
assembled together; each building or house, of one story 
only, and containing perhaps, a single, or at most, but two 
apartments. 

The sanctuary especially dedicated to the sun, was wain- 
scotted with panels of wood, to which thin plates of gold 
were fastened. The whole of one side of this chamber was 
ornamented with a figure of the sun wrought upon gold, 
with rays and emissions of light proceeding from it as it is 
usually depicted by our painters. 

On each side of this image, the desiccated bodies of the 
deceased Incas were placed, each seated on a stool made of 

§ old - 

In an adjoining apartment, was a room decorated with 
silver, in the same manner as the one just described was 
adorned with gold. This chamber was dedicated to the 
moon, as the wife of the sun; and her image, representing 
a female face, was exhibited on a silver plate fastened to one 
side of the room. On each side of this plate, the dried 
bodies of the deceased wives or queens of the Incas were 
seated. 

A third chamber was dedicated to the planet Venus, the 
Pleiades, and the stars in general. Venus was considered 
the page of the sun, from being always in his vicinity. The 
other stars, belonged to the court of the moon, as her atten- 
dants. Their apartment was plated with silver, and the ceil- 
ing painted to represent the starry heavens. 

A fourth apartment was dedicated to thunder and light- 
ning; and a fifth, to the rainbow, which they considered an 
emission from the sun. For that reason, its representation 
was adopted by the Incas as symbolizing their affiliation 
from the same luminary. The apartment consecrated to the 
rainbow, was furnished with gold, and on the walls, the 
figure of one was painted in glowing colours.* 

There was also an apartment appropriated to the high 
priest, not as a lodging room, but for holding consultations 
upon all matters pertaining to their religious system; and 
various apartments of less note, were alloted for the use of 
the inferior priests and servants of the temple. 

The ground, for about two hundred paces around the tem- 
ple, was considered consecrated or holy, and no one was al- 
lowed to pass within this boundary but with naked feet. 
Only a certain number of the Inca's male descendants, who 

* The Peruvians had a strange conceit, that the rainbow exerted an inju- 
rious influence upon their teeth, and therefore they kept their mouths clos- 
ed whenever one was visible. (Garcilazo.) 



Or THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



387 



were ordained priests, could enter the temple; and no fe- 
male of any rank whatever, not even the Inca's queen, 
(Garcilazo, Roy. Comment. 91,) was allowed this privilege, 
Garcilazo also informs us, that there were five fountains 
or cisterns connected with the chief temple of Cuzco, into 
which water was conveyed by pipes of gold and silver, 
brought under ground from springs whose sources were con- 
cealed. 

Herrera [Hist. Jimer. iv. 354,) says, there were above 
three hundred guacas, or temples, in Cuzco, though he re- 
lates no particulars concerning them. We presume it was 
from this circumstance, as well as from the ancient celebrity 
of being the city of Manco Capac, that Cuzco was consider- 
ed a holy city. Persons who had been there, were held in 
an esteem similar to that entertained by the Mahometans of 
their hadjis, or persons who had made the pilgrimage to 
Mecca. [Garcilazo, Roy. Comment. 87.) 

The most celebrated temple in Peru, after the one at Cuz- 
co, was built on an island in Lake Titicaca, where it was 
believed Manco Capac and his wife made their first appear- 
ance on earth. This legend, together with some other mat- 
ters of local importance among the adjoining Indians, caus- 
ed the island to be held in such sanctity, that a temple rich- 
ly adorned with gold, was erected there to the honour of the 
sun, and furnished with ornaments of the precious metals to 
an immense value. The whole surface of the island was 
considered holy, and its agricultural products were received 
among the people as consecrated matters, which would ever 
after protect them from famine or want. 

Though the Inca was considered as son of the sun, and 
therefore at the head of the religious institutions of the em- 
pire, he officiated as high priest but on one occasion in the 
annual festivals of the country, which was at the time of ce- 
lebrating the principal feast held in honour of the sun. 

At all other times, another person performed the duties 
of high priest, and who was known by the appellation of 
Villac-Umu. (Soothsayer or diviner.) He was always of 
the Inca's family, and most generally his uncle or brother. 
(Garcilazo, 90, 217.) 

The inferior priests were also of the lineage of the Inca, 
and even the menials whose personal services were required 
about the temple, were made Incas by privilege, it being 
contrary to their law, that any one, no matter what his rank 
or consequence might be, should enter the temple unless of 
this illustrious parentage. 

From this circumstance, we can understand the reason, 



3S8 



ON TIIE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



otherwise remarkable, that the priests wore no dress to dis- 
tinguish their sacred office: (Garcilazo, Roy. Comment. 
32,) for they were already designated by their dress and or- 
naments, as being of Inca blood, which shewed their exclu- 
sive appointment to such functions. 

From the dignity and state assumed by the Inca's family, 
they appear to have been but little familiar with the people 
at large; and hence we find the "conjuring doctors" of the 
more rude nations of America, performing- their juggling 
tricks among the commonalty of Peru; a feature in their 
institutions, which distinguishes them from the Mexicans, 
with whom we have not been able to detect the practices of 
these clerico-physicians. 

From the account given by Herrera, (Hist. Jimer. iv. 
353,) we presume they practised on the same plan with the 
conjurers, whose feats we have described, page 105, among 
the barbarous tribes; but here, under license from the Inca, 
"who permitted them to assume whatever shape they pleas- 
ed, to fly through the air whither and as far as they pleased, 
and to converse with the devil," &c. 

The Peruvians sacrificed to the sun, animals of various 
kinds, such as lamas, rabbits, birds, &c. They also offered 
to that luminary, the fat of animals, all sorts of eatables, 
herbs, and even garments of superior quality, which were 
burned in a fire kindled to the honour of the sun from the 
bracelet of the high priest, which, it is presumable, was a 
transparent stone or gem cut into the form of a convex lens. 

In general, they simply cut the throats of the victims be- 
fore they were thrown into the fire; but on certain occasions, 
they held the animal down to the ground, and cutting the 
side open they tore out the viscera, from these they augured 
the success or misfortune of the enterprises, general or parti- 
cular, in which they were then engaged. 

I believe the Peruvians were the only people of America 
who made divinations from the entrails of beasts, and if 
Garcilazo's explanation of portentous appearances be correct, 
they could hardly ever have wanted the comfortable hope of 
succeeding in their undertakings: for if the bowels of the 
first animal did not encourage them, they tried a second, and 
a third, which could hardly fail of suiting them, as the 
chances of good luck had great odds in their favour even on 
the most ordinary inspection. 

Though Garcilazo positively denies that human sacrifices 
were permitted by the Inca, yet as Acosta (Nat. and Mor. 
Hist. 380,) and Herrera (Hist. Jimer. iv. 347,349,) affirm 
the contrary, we are inclined to think, that at least, they 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



389 



were occasionally made, though probably, not to the extent 
stated by the Spanish writers. The Peruvians were, on the 
whole, a mild and gentle people, and such sacrifices seem very 
incongruous with their general institutions. 

Their sacrifices appear to have been all made in the open 
air, in various places set apart for such, solemnities, some of 
which were near the temple, others, in different parts of the 
city. We shall incidentally touch upon this subject again 
when we describe their festivals. 

They also made a kind of drink-offering to the sun by dip- 
ping the tip of the finger into the fluid, and flirting it off in 
the air towards that planet, and at the same time, raising the 
hands as high as the shoulder, they kissed towards that lumi- 
nary, which Garcilazo says was their manner of adoration. 

This seems to have been that kind of idolatry alluded to 
by Job, xxxi, 26, 27. "If I beheld the sun when it shined, 
or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been 
secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand."* 

The Peruvians also pulled out some of their eyebrows and 
laying them on their hands blew them towards the object of 
their devotion. 

Connected with every temple erected by the Peruvians to 
the honour of the sun, was a convent of virgins, who devoted 
themselves to seclusion and celibacy. They were considered 
the wives of the sun, and were not allowed to speak to any 
man but the Inca, which privilege it would seem he never at- 
tempted to use. 

Acosta (Nat and Mor. Hist. 367,) says, these convents 
were maintained by rents and revenues assigned them by the 
lnca for support. 

At Cuzco, these virgins were solely of the blood of the 
Inca, none others being admitted into their convents, and 
these only when under eight years of age. In the different 
provinces of the empire, similar societies of virgins were at- 
tached to the temples of the sun located there; but they 
were not of the royal blood, but the daughters of Curaeas, 
and nobility, and other females distinguished for their grace- 
fulness and beauty. These provincial virgins were consid- 
ered as wives to the Inca, if he chose to select them; but if 
ever they had been thus honoured, they were incapacitated 
to return to the convent. The other virgins, after reaching 
a good old age had permission to return to their families with 
certain honourable privileges, if they preferred so doing to 
remaining in the convent. 

* The practice of kissing the hand in adoration, also prevailed among the 
Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, 8fc. (Potter's Antiq. i. 244. JSanier, Myth, i 
186. Gale, Court of Gent i. lib. ii. Ill, 112.) 
50 



390 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



These virgins of the sun, whether at Cuzco or elsewhere* 
took no part in the religious worship of the country, but 
seem to have been chiefly employed in manufacturing cloth- 
ing and ornaments for the Inca and. his queen. They also 
made those fine garments that were burned to the honour of 
the sun, and that kind of bread called Cancu, which was 
offered to that luminary at the great festivals of which we 
shall presently speak. They also made the drinks used by 
the Inca and his family on solemn occasions. 

They constantly preserved at the convent of Cuzco, a per- 
petual fire, which if it happened to be extinguished was sup- 
posed to indicate a visitation of heavy calamities. 

Garcilazo says, that if the virgins of the sun transgressed 
their vows of chastity they were buried alive. The man 
connected with them was hung, and his kindred stoned to 
death. 

In the history of the virgins of the sun, we recognize a 
system that has prevailed, perhaps, every where among the 
ancient idolatrous nations who had attained a certain degree 
of civilization. We have already discoursed on this subject 
in our observations on the celibates of the Mexicans, to 
which we refer for the general analogies. It must be ob- 
served, however, that celibacy in convents or nunneries, ap- 
pears to have been peculiar to females alone among the Pe- 
ruvians. They therefore more closely resemble the vestals 
of the ancient Romans, and those of the Scandinavians, 
whom Mallet (North Jlntiq. i. 125,) thus describes: "the 
goddess Friga, was usually served by kings' daughters, whom 
they called prophetesses and goddesses: these pronounced 
oracles, devoted themselves to perpetual virginity, and kept 
up the sacred fire in her temple." 

Though the Peruvians celebrated various festivals during 
the year and especially at the time of every new moon, yet 
Garcilazo and Acosta pass them over without any descrip- 
tion, excepting the four that appear from them to have been 
their principal feasts: these we shall now attempt to describe 
in a brief yet exact manner. 

Though the Peruvian festivals appear to have been regu- 
lated by the apparent motions of the sun towards the equi- 
noxial and solstitial points, yet our authorities have not 
treated of them in that order, but according to their relative 
degrees of importance and solemnity. Hence, when we 
speak of the first, or fourth festival, they are to be consid- 
ered in that light, and not as marking their succession to 
each other in point of time. We shall attempt to correct 
this bad arrangement, by stating as near as possible the time 
of the year at which they were celebrated. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



391 



Their first, or principal festival, was celebrated according 
to Garcilazo {Roy. Comment. 217,) soon after the summer 
solstice, (June, >in honour of the sun, and was called by 
them Yntip Raymi. At this time they acknowledged the 
sun to be their sole and universal god, by whose light and 
heat all living creatures were generated and sustained. They 
also commemorated the Inca Manco Capac and his wife as 
having descended from the sun for the benefit of mankind. 

The Inca, at this festival officiated as high priest, which 
was the only time during the year that he exercised this func- 
tion. 

The principal curacas, and officers of the government, and 
as many other persons as could possibly attend, assembled to- 
gether at Cuzco at this time. They were dressed in their 
best and finest clothes, and otherwise adorned with jewels, 
plates of gold, garlands, &c. as far as the law permitted their 
use. 

They also dressed themselves in a grotesque manner with 
the skins of wild beasts, with the wings of the condor, &c. 
Others, in the language of Garcilazo, "appeared in antic 
shapes, with horrid visors;* and to make themselves the more 
ridiculous, entered with grimaces, making mouths and turn- 
ing themselves into a thousand fantastical gestures like fools 
or madmen, carrying flutes and ill-tuned cymbals, without 
music or harmony, which served to make up their wild mas- 
querade." 

The curacas bore weapons of various kinds, and certain 
military insignia or badges which denoted their valour in 
war; and each one endeavoured to excel in state and magni- 
ficence of appearance. 

For three days they fasted in the most rigorous manner, 
barely using maize and water sufficient to support life. On 
the evening of the third day, the virgins of the sun made from 
the meal of bruised or ground maize, a great quantity of that 
sacred bread called Cancu, which was alone used at this fes- 
tival, and the one called Citua. Garcilazo says, that the 
cancu bread was sometimes mingled with the blood of chil- 
dren, drawn from various parts of their bodies; but that at 
other times, it was a plain bread, which I presume, was the 
case at this festival, for it is said to have been the first dish 
served up at the banquet made at this time. We shall hereaf- 
ter speak of the other kind of cancu bread. 

On the next or fourth day, every thing having been duly 

* Ulloa {Mem Philos. ii. 98,) says of the Peruvian masks, "lis sont reelle- 
ment si laids, sans cependant offrir rien de monstreux, que ceux de l'Europe 
ne peuvent pas y etre compares, quelque ridicules qu'on ait pu en imaginer." 



392 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



prepared, they assembled at daybreak in the public square 
of the city, to await the rising of the sun, which as soon as 
visible, they adored by squatting down "and with open arms 
and hands lifted up, putting them before their mouths, threw 
empty kisses into the air, and with profound reverence ac- 
knowledged the sun for their god." (Garcilazo, Boy Com- 
ment. 219.) 

Then the Inca, taking two golden cups, filled with a liquor 
drank commonly by them, in the name of the sun, as his eldest 
son, gave a small portion of the contents of one cup to each 
of his lineage present. The other cup was emptied into a 
stone channel that led to the temple, and was considered by 
them to have been drank by the sun. 

The curacas and nobles drank in a similar manner, but not 
from the Inca's cup, or of the liquor prepared for him. 

After this sipping, rather than drinking, the Inca and cer- 
tain persons of his family entered into the temple and made 
their offerings to the sun, which appear to have been repre- 
sentations of all kinds of animals made from gold and silver, 
and vessels of similar materials. As only these privileged 
persons could enter the temple, the curacas made their offer- 
ings by their hands.* 

After this had been done, every one retired to a proper 
place, and the Inca selecting a perfectly black young lama, 
sacrificed it in the manner we have already described in a 
preceding page, and from the inspection of the viscera, au- 
gured the prosperity or adversity of the ensuing year; which, 
as we have already observed, could hardly fail of being aus- 
picious. 

After this first animal had been thus sacrificed, numerous 
others were offered, but not in the same manner with the first. 
Their throats were cut, the skin taken off, and the blood, 
heart and entrails being cast into a fire, were consumed to 
ashes together with the whole body of the lama first sacrificed. 
The bodies of the other animals appear to have served as the 
materials of the ensuing banquet. 

This sacrifice was therefore a real holocaust, which, though 
so frequent among the ancient pagans of Asia and Africa, 
does not appear to have been in use among any of the demi- 
civilized nations of America but the Peruvians. 

The fire for these sacrifices, was kindled from the sun by 

* We must observe, that unless the male members of the Inca's family had 
been especially ordained to make these offerings, they were obliged to use 
the services of those that had received this power. I presume, however, this 
function might be exercised by any of the Inca's lineage who chose to be 
ordained, though he could not officiate from the mere circumstance of his 
royal birth. 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



393 



means of the bracelet of the high priest, held over a "cylin- 
der of the bigness of a half orange, bright, and well polished, 
which uniting the rays of the sun in one point, cast such a 
reflexion into the cylinder, as easily set fire to the cotton" 
prepared for this purpose.* 

Portions of this fire were carried to the temple of the sun, 
and the convent of the virgins, to be preserved there for the 
ensuing year; and in case it happened to be extinguished was 
regarded as a most unhappy omen. 

If the day happened to be cloudy, this fire was kindled by 
rubbing two sticks together, which however was considered 
an unfavourable circumstance, "as the sun seemed as it were 
to hide his face from them in displeasure for some offence 
committed. " 

After the sacrifices had been performed, the whole people 
partook of a banquet, in which the first dish was of that sa- 
cred bread called cancu, which had been prepared by the 
virgins of the sun as already stated. 

After the people had eaten, they set down to hard drink- 
ing, to which vice, says Garcilazo, they were notoriously ad- 
dicted. While this carousing lasted, songs were sung, and 
dances made, in which, according to Garcilazo, "all nations 
presented themselves in their masquerades, and colours, and 
antic postures, according to the fashion of their country." 

This feast of Yntip Ray mi required nine days for its cele- 
bration, after which every one retired home and to his pro- 
per avocation. 

At this festival Acosta (Nat. and Mor. Hist. 411,) says, 
they produced publicly three figures or statues of the sun, 
which they called father sun, son sun, brother sun. Garcila- 
zo does not mention this circumstance in his account of this 
festival, and on another occasion says, this conceit of a trinity 
was but the fancy of the Spaniards. It is not easy, however, 
to set aside the positive declaration of Acosta, an earlier wri- 
ter than Garcilazo, and who attributed the device to an imi- 
tative ceremony of the devil. He would not therefore have 
made the statement he has given, without circumstances ap- 
pearing to make the matter remarkable. For our observa- 
tions on the Triads of the American Indians, see page 320. 

The second festival described by Garcilazo, was the one in 
which the youth of the Inca's family underwent some severe 
probationary exercises, testing their ability to endure hunger, 

* Plutarch, in his life of Numa, says, the sacred fire of the Romans was 
kindled from the sun by concave vessels of brass, which reflected the rays on 
one central point and kindled such light and dry matters as, were placed in 
the focus. 



394 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



fatigue, &c. We have already described the nature of their 
trials at page 372, and which appear to be exclusively mili- 
tary in their nature and involving no principle of religion. 

We are not informed at what time of the year this festival 
was celebrated, though indeed from Garcilazo's history it 
would seem to be fixed to no period of time; for he relates 
that it took place "every year or two, more or Jess, according 
as it was judged convenient. " 

The third festival, which was called Cusquieraymi, was 
celebrated about thetimethe maize and other plants sprung up 
out of the ground, when they sacrificed many animals to the 
sun, entreating him not to permit the frost to injure their 
agricultural productions. This festival renewed the dances 
and drinking of the Yntip Raymi, and as we have described 
at that feast, the bodies of the animals sacrificed, were dis- 
tributed among the people for their food and entertainment. 

Garcilazo relates no particulars further of this festival 
than we have here stated; indeed, our description is hardly 
more concise than the one he has given. 

The fourth festival of the Peruvians, was called Citu or 
Citua, and was held on the first day of the moon after the au- 
tumnal equinox, (September) and seems for the most part to 
have been of the nature of the ancient lustrations. 

It was preceded by a rigorous fast of several days, during 
which time they abstained from all commerce with their 
wives. 

On the vigil of the feast, they made the sacred bread called 
cancu, which was formed into balls, and being put into a 
dry pot was then half baked. But according to Garcilazo 
{Roy. Comment. 25S,) at this festival the cancu bread was 
made in two different ways. The first kind, was a simple 
bread, made from the meal of Indian corn with water. The 
second kind, was moistened with the blood of children from 
five to ten years of age, which they drew from the veins of 
the arm, or between their eyebrows and noses. It appears 
that this bread was not made exclusively by the virgins of 
the sun, but by the people at large, who compounded and 
baked it at the house of the eldest male member of their re- 
spective families. 

On the ensuing morning, but some hours before daybreak, 
all those who had previously prepared themselves by fasting, 
arose from their beds, washed their bodies, and taking a 
lump of this half baked bloody bread, applied it to their 
head, mouth, and other parts of their bodies, as if by so do- 
ing they purified themselves from all their infirmities.* 

* In this account, we have copied Garcilazo, as we have derived all the 
minutiae of this festival from him, and could not well interrupt the relatioa 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



395 



This being done, the eldest person of the family, affixed 
some of the bloody cancu on the lintils of the door next to 
the street, to designate they had performed their purifica- 
tions. 

In like manner, the high priest performed the same cere- 
monies at the temple of the sun, and designated other priests 
to perform the same rites at the convent of the virgins of 
the sun, and at other places accounted holy and sacred by 
them. 

At the Inca's court, the ceremony was performed by the 
eldest uncle of the Inca. 

As soon as the sun rose, the people adored him, and be- 
sought him to deliver their city from outward calamities and 
internal diseases They then broke their fast with the bread 
made without blood, which they attempted to do simultane- 
ously throughout the kingdom, so that the act of adoration 
might be general at the same instant of time. 

Immediately afterwards, one of the blood royal sallied out 
from the fortress of Cuzco, richly attired, to represent a 
messenger from the sut?; bearing a lance in his hand orna- 
mented with a wreath of feathers of various colours, extend- 
ing from the point to the butt. In this manner, he ran to 
the market place, where he met four persons, also of the 
Inca blood, who each bore lances in their hands. He then 
touched the point of their spears with the one he carried, 
and told them, that the sun commanded them as his officers 
to purify and cleanse the city. 

With this commission, the four persons departed, running 
through the principal streets of the city, and as they passed 
along, men, women, and children stood at the doors of their 
houses making great acclamations, shaking their garments as 
if they would beat out the dust, and rubbing their hands 
Over the different parts of their bodies, as if washing off 
their persons, all disease and sickness, which they expected 
would be expelled from the city, by the persons armed with 
lances who passed along the streets. 

By a repetition of these ceremonies, and a succession of 
persons relieving one another in this lustration, they ulti- 
mately purified the city and its vicinity, until they had at- 
tained a distance of several leagues, when fixing their lances 

by the account of Acosta, who says, (Nat. and Mor. Hist. 392,) the Peruvi- 
ans, eat a morsel of this bloody bread, protesting they would neither do 
nor mink any thing against the sun nor the Inca, &c. 

We consider the statement of Acosta correct; and the mere circumstance 
of its being bread, shews it was intended to be eaten. If it had been used 
as a purifier simply by rubbing the body, they would no doubt have made it 
an unguent. 



396 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



in the ground, they considered they had thus formed an im- 
passable boundary to all disease and ill luck, that might 
otherwise have ravaged their city at pleasure. 

When night came, they lighted great balls or torches of 
straw, close and hard twisted together that they might be a 
long time burning. These balls or torches, which were 
about the size of a foot ball, were tied to short pieces of 
cord, by which when set on fire, they could be whirled about 
through the steets, and in this manner they expelled the noc- 
turnal plagues and evils, as the diurnal ones had been driven 
out by the lances. 

Afier passing through the city with these fire balls, they 
were then thrown into some running stream, which, carrying 
them along its current, bore off* every evil and accident that 
was not restrained by the cordon sanitaire of the lances 
already described. 

The Indians would upon no account approach one of these 
fire balls, which, being extinguished by the water in which it 
was cast, might happen to be entangled in the weeds or bushes 
along the shore; for they apprehended they should be afflicted 
by those diseases and evils which had been thus driven out 
of the city. 

In the celebration of this festival Citua, we perceive the 
same singular practice of eating a consecrated bread made 
with blood, which we have previously ascertained was a re- 
ligious rite of the Mexicans, and people of Nicaragua. As 
we have already discoursed on this subject, we shall not 
again repeat our observations, but refer the reader to page 
240, where he will find that analogous ceremonies have been 
also observed in various parts of the eastern continent. 

In the purification of their city from calamities and evil 
fortune, we perceive one of those varied forms of lustration, 
to which most pagan nations have resorted, under the super- 
stitious idea of procuring health and immunity from dangers 
and accidents for the ensuing year, or other periods of 
time. In the practice of setting fire balls adrift in the river 
charged with "nocturnal plagues and evils," some fanciful 
theorists, who derive the Indians of America from the Jews, 
see an imitation of the release of the scape goat in the wil- 
derness! This notion is so extravagant that it does not re- 
quire any refutation. Many ancient pagans of the eastern 
continent, have made use of superstitious practices conform- 
able with the Peruvian ceremony, and which indeed, implies 
nothing in its character so arbitrary, but might be very na- 
turally adopted by any heathen people believing in charms 
and witchcraft. 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



397 



Without quoting at large on this subject, we will simply 
make the following extracts, as substantiating our general 
observations and furnishing at the same time analogous 
superstitions. 

The Biajus, natives of Borneo, (J2s. Res. x. 216,) in per- 
forming their offerings to the god of evil, launch a small boat 
into the sea, loaded with all their sins and misfortunes, which 
are imagined to fall upon the crew of the first vessel who 
are so unlucky as to encounter it at sea. 

In certain parts of Hindustan, {Jls. Res. ix. 97,) the su- 
perstitious natives place an earthen pot on the river with a 
lamp in it, which they send adrift laden with their sins. 

We have now, as far as our means allowed, exhibited to 
the reader whatever seems characteristic in the institutions 
of the empire of the Peruvian Incas, with such commentary 
and illustration as appeared necessary to elucidate the sub- 
jects of our investigation. Having closed this part of our 
inquiry, we shall proceed to examine the traditions they 
relate of their earlier history, and those concerning Manco 
Capac, the great founder of their religion and national 
polity. 

On the Traditional History of the Peruvians. 

There is no tradition among the Peruvians that we are 
aware of, that gives any account of their having ever emi- 
grated from other lands, to those countries in which they 
were found by Pizarro, and the cruel band of spoilers that 
obeyed his commands. 

The relation they give of the origin of their nation and 
government, as might be naturally expected, is obscure and 
in some particulars contradictory. We have in the intro- 
ductory pages of this chapter, taken the account given by 
Garcilazo de la Vega of these matters, who being of the 
blood of the Incas, and living just after the destruction of 
their empire, might be supposed the best authority for the 
early history and antiquities of his country; and such we 
presume, he ought to be considered. But with all the ad- 
vantages that Garcilazo enjoyed, he was neither a good anti- 
quarian nor historian, nor did he perceive what were the 
subjects to which he should have chiefly directed his inqui- 
ries. This may be explained, perhaps, in those sentiments 
of contempt, which were pretty universally felt by the Spa- 
niards for the institutions and polity of the American Indi- 
ans. The abusive commiseration they expressed for their 
51 



398 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C, 



idolatry and superstition,* would naturally dampen any at- 
tempt to investigate the history and antiquities of Pern, 
though every advantage and facility was afforded for such an 
undertaking. 

The Spanish writers who have treated of the conquest of 
the Peruvian empire, have touched upon such subjects no 
further than seemed necessary to illustrate their own nefari- 
ous history. Their military operations being involved with 
events of local importance, sometimes required the explana- 
tion of such matters of custom or history, which either ad- 
vanced or retarded the progress of their arms. But all other 
subjects that did not relate to themselves they considered 
insignificant and unworthy of notice. 

It is in vain, however, that we regret the omissions of the 
earlier Spanish historians of Peru. Three centuries have 
elapsed since the downfall of that empire, and every inter- 
esting particular of their traditional history, or of their anti- 
quities, has long since been forgotten, excepting those imper- 
fect accounts preserved by a few individuals, who wrote 
chronicles of passing events in the first half century of Spa- 
nish domination. All that we now can do is to combine 
what they may have recorded, and thus endeavour to regain 
as far as possible an idea of the antiquities and history of 
Peru at the time of the Spanish conquest. 

Besides the relation given by Garcilazo, introduced in the 
first pages of this chapter, concerning Manco Capac and the 
origin of the Peruvian empire, there are some traditional 
histories preserved in the great work of Herrera on these 
subjects, which are in greater detail, and in some particulars 
entirely different from those related by Garcilazo. They 
are as follow, {Herrera^ iv. 283, &c.) The Peruvians re- 
ported they had received it by tradition from their ancestors; 
"that many years before there were any Incas, at the time 
when the country was very populous, there happened a great 
flood; the sea breaking out beyond its bounds, so that the 
land was covered with water and all the people perished. 
To this the natives inhabiting the vale of Xauxa, and the na- 
tives of the province of Collao, add, that some persons re- 
mained in the hollows and caves of the highest mountains, 
who again peopled the land. Others of the mountain peo- 
ple affirm, that all perished in the deluge, only six persons 
being saved on a float, from whom descended all the inhabi- 

* Acosta, who was certainly superior in many respects to the generality of 
the earlier Spanish writers on America, after having given a most meagre 
account of the historic traditions of ihe Peruvians, stops short, and observes; 
"But what availeth it to speak more, seeing that all is full of lies, and vani- 
ty, and far from reason." 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



39$ 



tants of the country. That there had been some particular 
flood may be credited, because all the several provinces 
agree in it:* they also concur in saying, that after their re- 
peopling they lived in a disorderly manner; most went 
naked, very few wearing short jerkins, but that the Llautos 
or wreaths they had on their heads to distinguish their seve- 
ral extractions, were then used, and that they wandered 
about in clans, without having any houses or settled dwel- 
lings, except only some caves; and others made strong holds 
on the highest hilis, whence they sallied to fight with their 
neighbours for the tilled lands, &c. Thus they lived like 
free clans, but still in a barbarous manner, as was practised 
by most other nations in that part of the world. 

At the time that this state of society existed as we have 
just stated, a very brave man named Zapana, started up in 
the province of Coliao, who subdued a considerable part of 
it: and the Indians say, the war was carried on against him 
very resolutely by some women in the province of Canas, 
who for their defence made several walls of dry stone, 
trenches, and forts, of which there are some ruins to be seen 
at this day. Those women having done wonders, were at 
last vanquished by Zapana, and their name forgotten. 

They further tell us, that there were white and bearded 
men in the islands of the great Lake Titicaca in the province 
of Coliao; that a chieftain named Cara, marching from the 
vale of Coquimbo, came to Chuquito, and going over to the 
island killed all those bearded people: but notwithstanding 
all these wars, the country being healthy and abounding in 
the necessaries of life, it grew very populous, and chiefs 
arose who tyrannised over the towns and provinces. 

Another tradition is, that in former times they were long 
without seing the sun, but that after many" prayers and vows 
to their gods, the sun came out of Lake Titicaca, and the is- 
land that is in it, and presently afterwards there appeared to 
the southward a white man of large stature and of venera- 

* Garcilazo (Roy. Comment 95,) alludes to this deluge in bis account of 
the island and temple in Lake Titicaca, but he does not state any particulars. 

Zarate (Hist. Conq. Pew, chap. 10, lib. i.) relates a Peruvian tradition of 
the deluge, in which a curious particular has been preserved though corrup- 
tedly. His words are 'the Indians related there had been once a flood, du-* 
ring which time men saved themselves in great caverns, which they had con- 
structed for this purpose upon lofty mountains, and to which they had car- 
ried every thing necessary for the support of life When they entered these 
caverns, the entrances and even the smallest fissures were so perfectly clos- 
ed that the waters could not penetrate them. When they considered that 
the waters had diminished, they thrust out some dogs, who returned to them 
wet, but without being soiled with mud; by which they perceived that the 
waters were still so high that they did not dare to leave the caverns, until 
they found their dogs again returned to them foul with mud." 



400 ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



ble aspect, whose power was so great that he brought down 
mountains, raised the vallies, and made water spring from 
the rocks, whom for that reason they called the beginning 
of all things created, and father of the sun, &c. ; that after 
having wrought these wonders he passed on to the north- 
ward, and in his way gave men rules to live by, advising 
them to be good and to love one another. This personage 
was called by them Ticeviracocha, and to his honour they 
erected temples and idolatrous statutes. 

Sometime afterwards, another person came like the for- 
mer, who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, &c. The 
people of Canas, however, for some reason not assigned, at- 
tempted to stone him, but fire appeared from heaven to aid 
him, which frightened them so much that they cried out to 
him to deliver them from the impending punishment. After 
this, he went away to the sea shore, and spreading his man- 
tle on the waves was carried away on it, and was never seen 
again, for which reason he was called Viracocha.* Foam of 
the sea. 

The Peruvian traditions further relate, that at Pacaritam- 
bo, (house of production) not far from Cuzco, there appear- 
ed three men and three women, all clothed in long mantles, 
and short coats without sleeves or collars. The men were 
called Ayarache, Aranca, and Aiarmango, and the women 
Mamacola, Mamacona, and Mamaragua. Ayarache had a 
gold sling with a stone in it, which was a most wonderful 
weapon, for with it he could throw down hills, and place 
stones in the clouds. These men were very haughty and 
assumed an authority over the country, and Ayarache, with 
the consent of the others founded the town of Pacaritambo, 
at which place much gold was collected. Ayarache's breth- 
ren, envying him," deceitfully persuaded him on some pre- 
text to enter a cave where their treasure lay, and when he 
had gone in they immediately closed its mouth with stones. 
When Ayarache was thus shut up, the two brothers resolved 
to erect another town with some people that joined them, 
which they called Tamboquiro. {Teeth of the palace.) 

After this time, it is reported, that the two brothers saw, 
to their great terror, Ayarache flying through the air with 
large painted wings, but he telling them not to be dismayed, 
informed them that he would soon establish the empire of 
the Incas, and directed them to remove to the next valley 
and found the city of Cuzco, which should become a great 

* We have already stated, that Garcilazo denies the Spanish translation of 
the signification of this word; though he has not informed us of its real 
meaning. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



401 



city, and that there a great temple should be built to the 
sun, and that as much as he was to pray to God for their 
grandeur, he would remain in the same shape they then saw 
him, on a hill, that was to be for ever worshipped by them 
and their descendants; that it should be called Gunacaure; 
where in return for his kindness, they should erect altars, 
and offer sacrifices to him, and to render them formidable to 
their enemies, he directed them to bore their ears as his 
were. They promised to do all he required, and went to 
the hill where they "saw him again and received other in- 
structions. Some little time afterwards, Ayarache and 
Aranca were transformed to stones shaped like men, and 
then Aiarmango with the women went and founded the city 
of Cuzco, and he assumed the name of Manco Capac." 

The account related by Acosta of the origin of the Peru- 
vians, is extremely brief, and yet contains particulars of 
much importance in our investigation. It is also a good 
specimen of the manner in which the first Spaniards wrote 
concerning the antiquities of the aboriginal nations of Amer- 
ica. 6 'It is," says he, (Nat. and Mor. Hist. 79,) "no 
matter of any great importance, to know what the Indians 
themselves report of their beginning, being more like unto 
dreams than to true history. They make great men- 
tion of a deluge that happened in their country; but we 
cannot judge if this deluge were universal, or some particu- 
lar inundation of those regions where they are. Whichso- 
ever it be, the Indians say, that all men were drowned in 
this deluge; and they report that out of the great Lake Titi- 
caca, came one Viracocha, which stayed in Tiahuanaco, 
where at this day, there is to be seen the ruins of ancient 
and very strange buildings, and from thence came to Cuzco,*' 
and so began mankind to multiply. Others report, that six, 
or I know not what number of men came out of a certain 
cave by a window, by whom men first began to multiply, 
and for this reason, they call them Pacaritampo." 

In the preceding extracts from Herrera, Acosta, and that 
from Garcilazo, at the commencement of this chapter, is con- 
tained every particular we have been able to collect con- 
cerning the traditional origin of the Peruvians, and of Man- 
co Capac, the great legislator and founder of that social and 
religious system, which eventually rendered them so eminent 
among the nations of South America, at the time of the 
Spanish conquest. 

*Acosta, page 473, says, seven persons came forth from this cave. The 
reader will please compare this statement with what has been said in page 
263, on on the remarkable use of this number. 



402 ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



The traditions we have extracted, agree in general in 
their prominent features: and any discrepancy between 
them, is not of sufficient importance to require an attempt 
to make them more harmonious. 

Setting aside the gross, and evidently fabulous incidents 
there stated, these traditions hint of curious and interesting 
particulars, which require investigation not only on their 
own account, but as being the principal materials upon 
which we must rely while examining the very obscure his- 
tory of Manco Capac; and from whence we may suppose 
him to have been derived 

The more important points involved in the Peruvian tra- 
ditions, are these: They commence with accounts of that 
deluge, whose destructive effect upon the human race, forms 
an important epoch in the early history of almost every peo- 
ple. They also distinctly relate, that the reproduction of 
mankind, and formation of civil societies, had taken place 
anterior to Manco Capac, and that during these remote peri- 
ods of time, notices are given of the achievements of heroes 
and Amazons, of benevolent missions, of philanthropic men 
or gods, and of bearded whites; all of which, involve mat- 
ters of curious speculation. 

As it is a matter of no consequence which of these differ- 
ent subjects we first investigate, we shall proceed with the 
history of Manco Capac. Neither Garcilazo, nor any of 
the Spanish writers, assign this personage a greater antiqui- 
ty than about four hundred years before the arrival of the 
Spaniards; and as his history, though imperfect, is sufficient- 
ly well connected with that of his descendants and succes- 
sors, I apprehend, he was not a mythological hero of uncer- 
tain ages of history, but a talented individual, who had art 
and knowledge sufficient to establish himself king and priest 
over the Peruvians near Cuzco; from whence he and his 
successors gradually enlarged their dominions to that of a 
mighty empire. 

That the demi-civilization of ancient Peru was exclusively 
derived from his genius and talents, I am much inclined to 
doubt; for a state of demi-civilization perhaps equal to that 
established by him, may be inferred to have existed in this 
kingdom at an earlier period than that in which his history 
commences. It also appears, that other nations not conq aer- 
ed by the Incas until more modern times, had a similar reli- 
gious system, at least, in some particulars, and they erected 
temples, and other monuments, not inferior in magnitude of 
undertaking to those universally attributed to the Incas. 

In the tradition we have extracted from Acosta, mention is 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



403 



made of Viracocha having stopped at Tiahuanaco, when on 
his journey from lake Titicaca to Cuzco. Now, whoever 
this personage may have been, he is by every writer made 
more ancient than Manco Capac; and if he visited Tiahuana- 
co, this ruined city is of an earlier foundation than the time 
of the Peruvian legislator. Such, indeed, was the tradition 
of the natives, according to Garcilazo, who at any rate, estab- 
lishes its erection independent of the Incas, not only by his 
relation, but by communicating the fact, that Tiahuanaco, then 
in ruins, was not conquered until the time of Mayta Capac the 
fourth Inca. (Roy. Comment. 55.) 

We shall extract from Garcilazo a description of these an- 
cient ruins, which though most probably exaggerated in some 
particulars, will nevertheless substantiate the claim of its un- 
known founders to a demi-civilization not inferior to that of 
the Peruvians. The relation is to be found in Garcilazo, 
Royal Comment. 55, &c. 

"Among the mighty works and buildings of that country," 
(at the outlet of lake Titicaca) "there is a certain hill or heap 
of earth thrown up by hand, which is so high that it is a sub- 
ject of great admiration, and least with time it should settle 
or sink lower, it is founded on great stones cemented together. 
And to what end this was done no man can conjecture, un- 
less it were like the pyramids in Egypt, to remain for a tro- 
phy of the greatness of that monarch who erected it. On 
one side of this mighty heap, are the statues of two giants cut 
in stone, with long robes to the ground, and wreaths or bind- 
ers about their heads, which being much impaired by time 
shews the great antiquity of them. There is also a strange 
wall to be seen raised with stones of an extraordinary big- 
ness, and what is most wonderful to consider, is, how or in 
what manner they were brought hither by force of men, and 
from what place they were brought, there being no rocks or 
quarries but such as are at a far distance from thence. There 
appear also many great and lofty edifices, and what is more 
strange, there are in divers places great portals of stone, and 
many of them whole and perfect, made of one single and en- 
tire stone, which being raised on pedestals, are found by those 
who have measured them to be thirty feet in length and fif- 
teen in breadth,* which pedestals, as well as the arches of the 
portals, were all of one single stone. 

"The natives report, that these buildings, and others of the 
like nature not mentioned here, were raised before the times 
of the Incas, and that the model of the fortress of Cuzco was 

* Acosta, 460, says, he measured some stones at Tiahuanaco, and found one 
of them 38 feet in length, 18 broad, and 6 in thickness. 



404 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



taken from them. Who they were that erected them they 
do not know; only, they have heard say by tradition from 
their ancestors, that those prodigious works were the effect 
of one night's labour, which seem to have been the beginnings 
only and foundations for some mighty structure. Thus much 
Pedro de Cieca in his remarks concerning Peru and its seve- 
ral provinces relates, to which I shall add what a certain priest 
called Diego de Alcobaca relates, who was my school- 
fellow, &c. This person in speaking of the ruins of Tiahu- 
anacu, has these words, 'in Tiahuanacu, which is a province 
of Coilao, amongst many other antiquities worthy of immor- 
tal memory, there is one particularly famous adjoining to that 
part of the lake which is called by the Spaniards Chucuytu.* 
This is a pile of monstrous buildings, to which is an open court 
of fifteen yards square every way, the building is two stories 
high, and on one side of this great square is a large hall of 
forty-five feet in length and twenty-two in breadth. The 
covering appears to be thatched like those on the temple of 
the sun at Cuzco. All this court or yard which we mention, 
with the walls, floors, hall, roof, portals and jambs of the doors, 
and back gate to this building, is all of one entire stone, hewn 
out of a rock; the walls of the court and of the hall are three 
quarters of a yard thick, and such also is the roof, which 
though it may seem to be thatched with straw, is yet of stone; 
for the Indians have worked it so artificially, that the stones 
appear like straw laid in the most curious manner of thatch. 
The waters of the lake beat against the side of these works, 
and both this and all the other edifices hereabout, were all as 
the natives report, dedicated to the maker of the universe. 
Moreover, besides these works, there are divers figures of 
men and women, cut so naturally in stone that they seem to 
be living. Some of them are drinking with cups in their 
hands, some are sitting, some standing, some are walking in 
the stream which glides by the walls; other statues there are 
of women carrying children in their arms and in the folds of 
their garments; others, with them on their backs, and in a 
thousand other manners and postures. The Indians of these 
days report, that for the great sins of that people, in having 
stoned a stranger who passed through their province, God in 
his judgments converted those men and women into stone.' 
These are the words of Diego de Alcobaca, who hath been 
Vicar-general of many provinces in that kingdom, and preach- 
er of the Indians; for being a native of Cuzco and of Spanish 
and Indian blood, and consequently acquainted with the In- 
dian languages, and in all probability he was the most likely 

* Chucuytu, is the south-west shore of lake Titicaca. 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 405 



man to deliver the most true and authentic relation of these 
countries." (Garcilazo, 55.) 

In other parts of Peru, also, monuments were found con- 
cerning which the tradition of the natives was, that they be- 
longed to an age more ancient than that of Manco Capac. 
Herrera (Hist. Amer. v. 182,) takes notice of some large 
structures near Guamanga. about half way between Cuzco 
and Lima, "which the Indians say, were built by white and 
bearded people who were in the country before the times of 
the Incas, and they are of a different form from those con- 
structed by the Incas." 

We also perceive that the Yuncas on the sea coast near 
Lima, held in common with the Peruvians the religious wor- 
ship of Pachacamac, the supreme God. Garcilazo expressly 
says, that the Yuncas "admitted and received prior to the 
time of the Incas, the same doctrine concerning Pachacamac 
that was entertained among the Peruvians;" and goes on to 
state, that this temple, the only one dedicated to that divinity 
in all Peru, was of great celebrity among the neighbouring 
people. "It was built before the times of the Incas, and was 
very magnificent for the structure." (Garcilazo, Roy. Com- 
ment. 234.) 

Don Ulloa [Mem. Philos. ii. 74,) says of this temple, "we 
see now nothing but ruins fallen down, with some few parts 
yet standing. It is divided into three parts; namely, a 
palace, a fortress, and a temple or place of prayer. Rude 
as this edifice appears, we may yet perceive an air of gran- 
deur and magnificence that attests that of the princes who 
formerly built it." 

From the similarity of these ruins to Peruvian monuments, 
Ulloa has supposed, without any other reason, that the Incas 
after conquering the country had embellished the original 
temple of the Yuncas. But as nothing on this subject is re- 
lated by any Peruvian author that I have met with, there 
seems to me no just ground for such a conjecture. 

In the plain on which the city of Truxillo is built, was 
established, independent of the Incas, a monarch called by the 
Spaniards the Chimo or Chimu. Herrera calls him "a po- 
tent lord." This prince was not subdued until the time of 
the tenth Inca. Stevenson (Trav. Amer. ii. 121,) says, 
the ruins of the ancient residence of the Chimu are yet to be 
seen near Truxillo, "they appear like the foundations of a 
large ciiy, or the walks of a garden crossing each other at 
right angles, and denote the residence of the numerous tribe 
which formerly inhabited this site, a:»d prove also that their 
ehief had a respectable force at his command." 
52 



406 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



In the hvacas or tombs, that have been opened in this 
vicinity are found the same ornaments, implements, and 
manufactures, that have been taken from those of undoubted 
Peruvian origin. It was from a tomb at this place, the great 
treasure described in the note to page 363 was taken. 

Jt is not deemed necessary to multiply extracts further to 
prove, that a certain degree of demi-civilization prevailed in 
the nations adjoining the Peruvian empire, which was not 
derived from their communication with the latter. We 
therefore shall take no notice of the Cyclopean architecture of 
Lagunilla or Paramonga, described by Stevenson, (Trav. S. 
turner, ii. 22, 169,) for we consider enough has been said to 
justify the hypothesis of a preceding page, that in a more 
remote age than any tradition of Peru has reached, civiliza- 
tion to a certain degree had been established among the na- 
tions of this kingdom, but which had been broken in upon 
or had been nearly overwhelmed by some invasion, pesti- 
lence, or calamity, unrelated by tradition. Then it was, we 
suppose, that certain individuals, among whom the most con- 
spicuous was Manco Capac, by policy and art again assembled 
fragments of tribes and people, and re-established a system 
of politics and religion, that continued until the arrival of 
the Spaniards; a period of time, according to the best wri- 
ters, of about four hundred years. [Garcilazo, 14.) 

It is presumable that Manco Capac was not from a coun- 
try foreign to America, but most probably was a priest from 
the neighbourhood of lake Titicaca,* where his history seems 
to commence according to Peruvian tradition. The signifi- 
cation of his name Manco, does not appear to have been 
known even to the latter Incas, according to the relation of 
Garcilazo, who was of that lineage. t I presume, however, 
it was significant of regal or priestly dignity, or possibly of 
both senses combined; for we learn that the Yuncas, who 
built the temple of Pachacamac ' 'before the times of the In- 
cas," had a monarch named Cuyis-mancu, impliedly a com- 
pound name, when subdued by the Peruvian Incas; and in a 
neighbouring district conquered at the same time, the sove- 
reign bore the name of Chuqui-mancu; see Garcilazo, Roy. 
Comment. 232, 234, &c. 

• * Lake Titicaca, according to Garcilazo, (p. 40,) was highly reverenced by 
the people on its shores "The Collas, who consist of many nations, report, 
that their first parents issued from the lake, and before the times of the In- 
cas they offered sacrifices to the lake upon its banks." 

f Garcilazo, (p. 21,) says, "Manco, is but the proper name of a person, 
and in the common language of Peru hath no signification, though in a par- 
ticular dialect which some of them have, (which as some write me from 
Peru is entirely lost,) it signifies something as all the other names and titles 
did which they gave to their kings." 



OP THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



407 



The word Capac, is an appellative in the Quichua language 
signifying rich in virtues, or as we should understand it ac- 
eoHing to our English idiom, illustrious. 

I apprehend we shall not be able to ascertain more of the 
history of the Peruvian legislator, than what we have related 
in the preceding extracts, which, though very deficient in 
particulars, may be deemed sufficiently explicit to save us the 
trouble of looking for his original country elsewhere than in 
South America. 

We are unable to offer even a conjecture concerning those 
personages of ancient Peruvian tradition, known by the 
names of Zapana, Tice-viracocha, and Viracocha; or whether 
they were real individuals or mythological heroes whom a 
series of ages had invested with certain attributes of divinity. 
They, at any rate, belong to times anterior to Manco Capac, 
and which lie overwhelmed with impenetrable darkness. 

We cannot, however, entirely dismiss these traditions 
without calling the reader's attention to certain particulars 
therein related, which excited no little surprise when we 
first perused them. These subjects are those women, who, 
like the Amazons of old, contended with men in war; and 
those white men, and men with beards, to whom a direct 
reference is made on more than one occasion. 

From some cause or other, perhaps impossible for us to 
conjecture, the story of a nation of female warriors has been 
found to prevail in different parts of South America, and 
the greatest river of this continent, has received a name 
from the supposition that they were established somewhere 
on its banks.* Their country, however, has never yet been 
ascertained, and we may without hesitation consider the 
whole story a ridiculous, though unintentional exaggeration, 
of the first Spanish invaders of South America. But as such 
a belief has prevailed, it may not be amiss at the present 
time, when we find something of a similar story, to inquire 
what distortion of facts could have given rise to so improba- 
ble a relation. 

The most direct solution seems to be, that in one or more 
instances when the men of the nation or tribe had been cut 
off by war, that the women in despair, may have resisted the 

* Orellana in his famous voyage down the Amazon river, speaks of Ama- 
zons, but according to Herrera, v. 261, it does not appear, that the Spaniards 
of that expedition saw above ten or twelve women mingled among the men, 
and acting as commanders, &c. As to the stories he collected from the In- 
dians on this subject, Herrera observes, "that Orellana having owned before, 
that he did not understand those Indians from whom he received this infor- 
mation, it is not likely, that in so short a time he could compose such a co- 
pious vocabulary, as to understand all the particulars he has related." 



40S 



ON THE POLITY, INSTITUTIONS, &C. 



invasion of an enemy with more courage than might be na- 
turally expected, or perhaps, if women were secured by na- 
tural or artificial defences, they may have frustrated or even 
defeated men who had destroyed their husbands and sons. 
The story also may have arisen from the circumstance, that 
the men of some nation who had experienced defeat and 
captivity, were afterwards contemptuously designated by the 
victors as women. This indeed, we know to hdve been a 
practice among some of the North American tribes, and if 
we can suppose a similar procedure among those of South 
America, their traditions when relating future wars, might 
scornfully term them wars with women. Any hint on this 
subject to Europeans, who had heard from infancy of the 
feats of the ancient Amazons, might be unconsciously exag- 
gerated into a system or political society, which the Indians 
might unintentionally confirm by answers to questions im- 
perfectly understood. 

Who the white men, and men with beards, may have been, 
is also a subject involved in the greatest obscurity, or if not 
true in fact, what has given rise to such a tradition, and that 
not confined to one nation or people but extended to several 
both of North and South America? We have observed this 
curious circumstance among the Mexicans in the history of 
Quetzalcoatl; among the Nicaraguans in their account of 
Comizagual; and with the Muyscas of Colombia in their 
tradition concerning Bochica. 

The Peruvians make more frequent mention of white men 
in their traditionary annals than any other American people. 
We recall to mind, their relation of Tice-viracocha, and that 
nameless one like him, that the people of Canas attempted to 
stone, the white and bearded men of the islands in lake Ti- 
ticaca, and those mentioned by Herrera as having construct- 
ed the buildings at Guamanga. In addition to these already 
mentioned, we introduce the following tradition related by 
all the historians of ancient Peru. 

In the reign of the Inca Yahuar-huacac, (the seventh from 
Manco Capac,) prince Viracocha gained a signal victory over 
the Chancas, which he ascribed to the supernatural assistance 
"of a number of men with great beards," which he asserted, 
had been sent to his assistance by an apparition with a long 
beard. These auxiliaries, it is true, were invisible to every 
one but the prince himself, and after the battle was gained 
were converted into sensible stones, &c. (Garcilazo, Roy. 
Comment, 162.) 

All the concern we have with this piece of military craft, 
is, the respect paid to men with beards, which was no doubt 



OF THE PERUVIAN EMPIRE. 



409 



founded on popular traditions, and which was resorted to 
that the people might be encouraged to fight bravely, when 
the existence of their empire was at stake. 

If we considered these traditions of white men to be lite- 
rally true$ there appears an absolute impossibility to explain 
the fact unless they were aboriginal; for it is incredible, that 
Europeans had ever been wrecked on the coast of Peru be- 
fore the invasion of Pizarro. Nor could the whiter Islanders 
of the Pacific ocean have been ever driven in their canoes 
to this coast, for the distance is not less than twenty-four 
hundred miles to Easter island, the nearest one from which 
they could be derived, and their voyage would also be di- 
rectly opposed by the trade winds. Neither can we bring 
to our assistance the white Indians of Chili, or other parts 
of South America, (see page 22,) for they are not different 
from the barbarian tribes in any respect; whereas, the tradi- 
tions to which we refer, connect them in every instance with 
power and wisdom superior to the red or brown men. 

I am inclined, therefore, to believe, that the words in the 
different Indian languages which have been interpreted 
ivhite, rather signify a bright complexion or appearance; 
that is, something brilliant, or divine, as denoting celestial 
origin, which either the flattery of the Indians, or the vanity 
of the Spaniards, may have compared directly to the colour 
of Europeans. 

Why beards were attached to the heroes of these tradi- 
tionary legends it is difficult to conjecture a sufficient reason. 
The Peruvians, like other American nations, have little 
beard, and the usual fashion was to pluck it off the face, 
hence, I presume, their beau ideal of a man would be one 
without a beard. But it may also be, that because it was 
unusual to see a thick beard, they might choose thus to de- 
signate gods or heroes, who might naturally be supposed dif- 
ferent from ordinary men. At any rate, I can offer no 
opinion more plausible, and submit the matter to others who 
may have greater opportunities of investigating the history 
and mythology of aboriginal America. 



CHAPTER IX. 



OX CERTAIN TRACES OF UNKNOWN DEMI-CIVILIZATION OBSERVED 
IN SOUTH A3IERIC A. 

That this volume may contain every particular pertaining 
to the ancient condition of America, as far as we have infor- 
mation, we have thought proper to bring together under one 
head, some detached notices of various travellers concerning 
traces of imperfect civilization observed in different parts of 
South America, which under our present state of informa- 
tion we are unable to refer to more distinct heads. We 
trust, however, that at some future day, the subjects of the 
present chapter may be exhibited with much greater interest. 

"In the province of Venezuela," ^Humboldt, Pers. Nar. 
iv. 314,) "on the plains of Varinas, are some feeble monu- 
ments of the industry of a nation that has disappeared. Be- 
tween Mijagual and the Cano de la Hacha, we find some real 
tumuli, called in the country Serillos de los Indios. They 
are hillocks in the shape of cones, formed of earth by the 
hands of men, and probably contain bones like the tumuli 
in the steppes of Asia. A fine road is also discovered near 
Hato de la Calzada, between Varinas and Canagua, five 
leagues long, made before the conquest in the most remote 
times by the natives. It is a causeway of earth fifteen feet 
high, crossing a plain often overflowed. The Indians whom 
we now find between this river (Rio Apura) and the Meta, 
are in too rude a state to think of making roads or raising 
tumuli" 

The antiquities noticed by Humboldt are not the only ones 
to be found in this region. Herrera {Hist. Amer. iv. 221, 
223,) makes mention of a territory in this neighborhood 
called Zenu, where in a field near a temple "were found 
abundance of graves, some of them so ancient, that large tall 
trees were grown over them, and within them an immense 
quantity of gold, besides what the Indians took out and what, 
is still lost under ground. These graves or tombs were 
magnificent, adorned with broad stones and vaults into which 
the dead bodies were laid, &c. The deceased were buried 
sitting, clothed, and well adorned. Many of these tombs 
were large plain rooms, and others only like great heaps of 
earth." 

On the coast of Paria, there was certainly a half civilized 
people established at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. 



TRACES OF UNKNOWN DEMI-CIVILIZATTON. 411 



Herrera {Hist. Jlmer. i. 229,) relates, that Guerra perceived 
the natives held "fairs or markets," and that they used 
earthen ware of various shapes; and gold castings of different 
figures were worn as ornaments, &c. 

In A. D. 1510, in this district P. Martyr, (Hackluyt, 
West Indies, page 298) says, Coimenaris found a king with 
his suite clothed in cotton garments, which was particularly 
remarked as a fact previously unobserved among the Indian 
tribes as far as they were then known. 

Bouguer in his voyage to Peru, {Pinkerton, Jimer. Voy. 
iv. 309,) takes notice, in several places, of rocks and stones 
engraved with various figures or characters. Those the most 
remarkable, were about three leagues from Bacche, (N. lat. 
3° 16') which he thus describes. "Two of the largest have 
a surface of nearly twenty feet in length by eleven in 
breadth, and very smooth. Upon them are engraved many 
characters and figures. Similar stones equally well engrav- 
ed are found in many places more remote and higher in the 
Cordilleras, but I have seen none of them. I have made a 
drawing of those mentioned. Probably, some inscription is 
designed by all these characters and figures, which point out 
by hieroglyphics certain extraordinary natural events. It 
appears to me, to have been a work of much deliberation 
and patience. The figures are cut two inches and a half 
deep at least." 

Similar figures like those described by Bouguer, appear to 
be common in many parts of South America, and which re- 
mind us of the sculptured rocks of North America which 
we have briefly mentioned page 109. 

Baron Humboldt states, "some granitic rocks which rise 
on the savannahs of Guiana, between the Cassiquiare and the 
Conorichite, are covered with figures of tigers, crocodiles, 
the sun, moon, stars, and other characters, which may be re- 
garded as symbolical. Similar figures are found four hun- 
dred leagues to the north and the west, on the banks of the 
Orinoco near Encaramada and Caicara, on the borders of the 
river Cauca, near Timba, between Cali and Jelima, and even 
on the elevated plain of the Cordilleras in the Paramo of 
Ouancas. The natives of these regions are unacquainted 
with the use of metallic tools, and all concur in asserting 
that those characters existed when their ancestors arrived in 
those countries." 

In another work, (Pers. Nar. iv. 473,) Baron Humboldt 
remarks, that many of these hieroglyphical figures, are 
placed on the perpendicular faces of rock accessible only by 
constructing lofty scaffolds. When the natives are asked to 



412 TRACES OP UNKNOWN DEMI-CIVILIZATION 



explain this circumstance, they relate, that at the period of 
the great waters their fathers went to that height in boats. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, I believe, was the first person who 
made the Europeans acquainted with the circumstance, that 
on the lower part of the river Amazon, the Indians were in 
possession of certain green stones, exceedingly hard, which 
were cut into various shapes and figures. These stones 
were said to have been fabricated by the Amazons, and were 
once highly esteemed under the ridiculous idea that they 
could cure diseases of the liver. 

Condamine, one hundred and fifty years after Raleigh, 
found numbers of these stones among the Indians near the 
mouth of the Topayos river. 

Humboldt observed similar stones among the Indians on the 
banks of the Rio Negro, and from him we derive the fol- 
lowing description of them. (Pers. Nar. v. 382.) 

The most usual form given them is that of the Persepoli- 
tan cylinders, longitudinally perforated and loaded with in- 
scriptions and figures. The stone itself, belongs to the 
Saassnrite, to the real jade, and forms one of the consti- 
tuent parts of the verde de Corsica, Euphotide of Haiiy. 

Whoever may have cut these singular stones, it is certain 
that the nations did not in whose possession they are now 
found. Humboldt says, they are in the "last degree of bar- 
barism," and so little idea have they of the manner by which 
they have been cut, that they imagine the green stone is 
taken soft out of the earth, and hardens after being moulded 
by the hand. 

It is scarcely necessary to add to the above accounts that 
we know not from whence these stones have been derived, 
nor by what means the Indians have come into their posses- 
sion. I will barely suggest the possibility, that they are 
taken from the tombs of some ancient and forgotten dcmi- 
civilized people in the interior of the country, whose locality 
has not been examined by civilized man. 

Indications of a partial civilization in the interior parts of 
South America, were observed at an early period of the 
Spanish conquest, but it is not. easy to determine how far the 
accounts have been exaggerated by the first travellers, who 
were soldiers inflamed with expectations of discovering the 
kingdom of El Dorado. Without venturing to mention all 
the matters related by them, it may be proper to take notice 
of a few not improbable statements, concerning a certain 
demi-civilization observed among the Indians of this un- 
known parr of South America. 

Huten, one of these military adventurers in search of El 



OBSERVED IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



413 



Dorado, {Humboldt, Pers. Nar. v. 821,) in A. D. 1541, 
came to a town called Macatoa belonging to the Guapes. 
"The people there were clothed, the fields appeared well cul- 
tivated, and every thing denoted a degree of civilization un- 
known in the hot regions of America. Huten was told, that 
further to the south-east he would enter the territory of the 
great nation of the Omaguas, the priest-king of which was 
called Quareca, and who possessed numerous herds of lamas. 
Orellana saw lamas at the dwelling of an Indian chief on the 
banks of the Amazons, and Ordaz had heard mention made 
of them in the plains of Meta." 

Speier, who preceded Huten, and who made his incursion 
in a more northerly direction, crossed the plains of St. Juan 
and made a long stay at the village of Fragua. Here he found 
a temple of the sun, and a convent of virgins similar to those 
of Peru and New Grenada. [Humboldt, Pers. Nar. v. 811.) 

As illustrating the general subject of this chapter, we must 
further state, that not long before Baron Humboldt arrived 
in Peru, an enterprising Franciscan missionary found among 
the Panoes, a tribe of Indians living on the Ucayle river a 
little to the north of the Sarayacu, bundles of paintings which 
resembled our volumes in quarto. These paintings we have 
already mentioned at page 306. Humboldt {Res i. 174.) 
says, that "when the missionary reached the dwellings of the 
Panoes, he found an old man seated at the foot of a palm tree, 
and surrounded by several young persons to whom he was 
explaining the contents of these books. The savages would 
not at first permit a white man to approach the teacher, and 
informed the missionary, that these paintings contained hid- 
den things which no stranger ought to know. With great 
difficulty the Franciscan procured one of these books, which 
he sent to Lima," &c. 

The Panoes at present differ but very little from other 
savages in this neighbourhood according to the meagre ac- 
counts we possess of them; but it seems evident from the fact 
of their hieroglyphic paintings, that they are either an an- 
ciently civilized people fallen into the savage state, or they 
have become possessed of these books, by the conquest of, or 
adoption into some nation, of whose history we are as yet 
entirely ignorant 

It is not improbable, that the traces of civilization observed 
in South America, north of the river Amazon, were more or 
less connected with the ancient Muyscas and Peruvians. In- 
deed, the tradition of the Muyscas expressly states, that Bo- 
chica the great founder of their religion and social state, came 
from the plains of St. Juan, known to them as the ancient 
53 



414 TRACES OF UNKNOWN DEMI-CIVILIZATION 



Cundinimarca. The lamas observed east of the Andes along 
the rivers Amazon and Meta, might have been brought from 
Peru by some people emigrating from thence, or perhaps, 
were procured accidentally in war and were driven far to the 
westward.* But we must also bear in mind, that there were 
very extensive communications among the Indians of South 
America, which indeed are so remarkable, that Southey in 
his history of Brazil remarks it is exceedingly difficult to ex- 
plain how they took place. 

As throwing some light upon our general subject, we shall 
introduce some particulars concerning the Chancas, a people 
mentioned in the ancient history of Peru, which may tend 
to explain how traces of civilization in the course of a few 
centuries might be extended over an immense extent of 
country. 

The Chancas are represented by Garcilazo {Roy. Com. 
115, 177,) as a warlike and powerful people who were par- 
tially conquered by the Incas of Peru. They reported that 
they had proceeded from a fountain through a progenitor named 
Leon, if called aright. These people possessed twenty-four 
paintings, which Garcilazo says, were "painted after the man- 
ner of Hercules, with a lion's skin and a man's head." They 
are said to have come to Peru from a great distance, and to 
have compelled the ancient inhabitants to yield them an es- 
tablishment in the country. A part of the Chancas, mal-treat- 
ed or discontented with the lncas after their subjugation, 
abandoned Peru under the command of a valiant chief called 
Hanco-hualla. These crossed the Andes with their women 
and children and were never heard of afterwards, except by 
some vague report preserved in tradition, that they had 
moved to a great distance, where they ultimately settled on 
the banks of a great lake, and increased in wealth and per- 
formed mighty acts.t 

South of the river Amazon, in the interior of the great em- 
pire of Brazil, we have also remarked certain traces of demi- 
civilization, which however rude they may appear, still 
by the consent of all travellers, are deemed much greater 
works than the present race of Indians in that country are 
supposed to have ever attempted to construct. 

* Yrala found sheep (lamas) domesticated among the Mapais and Barco- 
nos, when on his expedition to the interior of South America. Other marks 
of demi-civilization were observed among them and their neighbours how- 
ever, these people were not far from the frontiers of Peru. (Southey, Hist. 
Braz. i. 164, 165, 168.) 

fThis brief history of the Chancas, is interesting in several particulars. It 
might he supposed, they were originally of Toltecan descent, from the cir- 
cumstance of their being in possession of hieroglyphic paintings. It might 
be asked, whether they had after leaving Peru any connexion with the Pa- 
noes, also possessed of similar paintings? 



OBSERVED IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



415 



Southey {Hist. Brazil, ii. 652,) relates, that when the 
Dutch were in possession of Brazil, prince Maurice sent one 
Herckman into the interior of Pernambuco in search of mineSo 
"He there discovered vestiges of some forgotten people who 
possessed the country before the present race of savages, and 
of whom not. even the most vague tradition has been pre- 
served. He found two huge perfectly round stones, mani- 
festly rounded by art, and placed one upon the other, the 
largest being uppermost. They were sixteen feet in diame- 
ter, and the thickness such, that a man standing on the ground 
could scarcely reach to the middle. On the following day 
he came to some other stones of such magnitude, that it seem- 
ed impossible for any human strength to have moved them. 
They were piled up like altars, and Herckman compares 
them to some monuments at Drent in Belgium. In the same 
part of the country Mr. Koster describes a rocking stone/'* 

Koster {Travels in Brazil, ii. 84,) mentions a priest, 
who had made a drawing of a stone in the province of Pa- 
raiba upon which was carved a great number of unknown 
characters and several figures, one of which had the appear- 
ance of being intended to represent a woman. The rock 
from which these figures were copied was large and stood in 
the middle of the bed of a river which is quite dry in sum- 
mer. When the inhabitants of the neighbourhood saw him 
at work in taking this drawing, they informed him there 
were several others of a similar kind in different parts of that 
vicinity. 

Though we apprehend some error in the ensuing state- 
ment, it is thought proper to make the extract, lest we might 
seem to have overlooked a singular relation. In Molina 
{Hist. Chili, i. 269, notes,) it is stated, that "between the 
hills of Mendoza and La Punta, (in the province of Coyo or 
Mendoza,) upon a low range of hills is a pillar of stone one 
hundred and fifty feet high, and twelve in diameter. It has 
marks or inscriptions upon it resembling Chinese." 

"Near Diamond river in the same province, is also ano- 
ther stone, containing some marks which appear to be ciphers 

*Kosler's relation is as follows: (Trav. in Brazil, i. 124.) "This afternoon I 
had seen many rocks of remarkable forms. One particularly struck me as 
extraordinary; it was placed upon another of much smaller dimensions, and 
the resting point was so small as to render its removal apparently easy, but 
on trial it had not the smallest motion." 

I know not whether the hill also mentioned by Koster, is to be considered 
artificial or not; he simply observes, "within a day's ride of Acu, (in the inte- 
rior of Pernambuco,) I saw at some distance a high hill of a circular form 
standing quite alone and unconnected with any other high ground. Its sides 
appeared too steep for horses to ascend." 



416 



TRACES OF UNKNOWN DEMI-CIVILIZATION 



or characters, and with the impression of a man's feet, with 
the figures of several animals. The Spaniards call it the 
stone of St. Thomas." 



Having now accomplished our view of the social and mo- 
ral institutions of the nations of aboriginal America, together 
with an analysis of them in all those particulars that seemed 
curious and interesting, let us now attempt to ascertain how 
far light has been thrown upon the subject of their origin. 

In the history of the barbarian tribes of America, we have 
perceived nothing that can enable us to assert with any po- 
sitiveness, that they are descended from any particular peo- 
ple of the eastern continent. For the most part, their phy- 
sical appearance would induce us to look to Asia as their 
original country, from whence we might also derive that 
smaller part of our aboriginal population who are either 
white or black. But between the languages of Asia and 
America, there is little if any resemblance; at any rate, en- 
tirely insufficient to identify them with any particular nation 
or people. Between the social and moral institutions of the 
barbarous Americans, and any people of the eastern conti- 
nent, we are not justified in considering any particular affi- 
nity to have been established; for the resemblance appears to 
be founded alone in the necessities of human life. 

In our examination of the institutions of the demi-civilized 
nations of America, we have been equally unsuccessful in 
tracing any uniform national resemblance to any people of 
the eastern continent, whether in language, habits, or insti- 
tutions. But in analysing many parts of their institutions, 
especially those belonging to their cosmogonal history, their 
religious superstitions, and astronomical computations, we 
have in these abstract matters found abundant proof to assert, 
that there has been formerly a connexion between the peo- 
ple of the two continents. Their communications, however, 
have taken place at a very remote period of time, for those 
matters in which they more* decidedly coincide, are un- 
doubtedly those that belong to the earliest history of man- 
kind, 

A few of the American nations, have a tolerably consist- 
ent tradition concerning the building of the tower of Babel. 
But from that period of time, we have been unable to per- 
ceive that they relate any circumstance of history common 
to the two continents, which would throw any light upon the 
probable time of their separation from each other. 

Though it may not be an improbable supposition, that the 



OBSERVED IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



417 



American nations had been dispersed immediately from the 
plain of Shinar, and many considerations directly justify the 
hypothesis, yet we do not think we have seen sufficient evi- 
dence to establish the fact positively from any part of our 
previous researches. If the separation of the people of the 
two continents took place a thousand or more years later 
than that memorable epoch, I question whether the points of 
resemblance or difference between the people of the two 
continents would be materially affected by the hypothesis. 

But at. the present stage of our investigation, difficulties 
are immediately suggested; for it is asked, How does it hap- 
pen that the communications of the people of the two conti- 
nents took place alone in such remote periods of time? If 
communications anciently existed, why have they not also 
taken place in succeeding ages? Why was America so long 
unknown to the eastern world? And, moreover, in what 
manner did these ancient, communications take place? How 
did the original inhabitants of America, and the animals, 
first arrive in the western continent? 

It will therefore be perceived, that we have not yet arri- 
ved at the proper place in our researches to make an end of 
our investigation; for it is impossible, without more light on 
this subject, to attempt answering the questions we have just 
suggested. 

That we may be able to give a satisfactory solution to the 
present difficulties, we shall immediately enter upon an in- 
vestigation of that difficult part of our subject, which has 
ever been the great stumbling block to inquirers concerning 
the aboriginal history of America, to wit, the manner by 
which the men and animals of this continent surmounted the 
apparent difficulties of an emigration from the eastern world. 

All that has been gained, therefore, in our previous dis- 
course, beyond a better acquaintance with our subject, has 
been the establishment of the fact that ancient communica- 
tions once existed between the inhabitants of the two conti- 
nents, and that the era of their separation from each other 
must be of great antiquity. 

On this point we shall be found to agree very closely with 
Baron Humboldt, {Res. i. 249 ) "It cannot be doubted," 
he observes, "that the greater part of the nations of Ameri- 
ca, belong to a race of men, who, isolated ever since the in- 
fancy of the world from the rest of mankind, exhibit in the 
nature and diversity of language, in their features, and the 
conformation of their skull, incontestible proofs of an early 
and complete separation." 



CHAPTER X. 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 

Before we attempt to explain in what manner the men and 
animals of America reached this continent, it is necessary to 
ascertain if possible, the circumstances of their original crea- 
tion; for upon this essential particular depends the great in- 
terest of our present investigation. It must be evident that 
we can arrive at no satisfactory conclusion, if it be doubtful 
whether the Creator of the universe made man and the ani- 
mals but in one locality, from whence they were dispersed 
over the earth; or whether he created them in each of those 
various situations where we now find them living. 

So far as this inquiry respects mankind there can be no rea- 
sonable ground to doubt the one origin of the species. This 
fact may be proved both physically and morally. 

That men, notwithstanding all the diversities of their ap- 
pearance, are but of one species, is a truth now universally 
admitted by every physiological naturalist. The last and 
best inquirer into this subject, who unfortunately is one who 
has arrayed his great talents against the inspiration of the 
scriptures, has nevertheless, after elaborate investigation, de- 
clared, "that the human species like that of the cow, sheep, 
horse, pig, and others, is single, and that all the differences 
which it exhibits are to be regarded merely as varieties/' 
{Laurence, Phys. Lect. 469.) 

It is true, this physiologist, does not admit that the human 
species had their origin from but one pair; for he observes, 
the same species might have been created at the same time 
in very different parts of the earth. But when we have ana- 
lysed the moral history of mankind, to which Mr. Laurence 
seems to have paid little attention, we find such strongly 
marked analogies in abstract matters existing among nations 
the most widely separated from each other, that we cannot 
doubt there has been a time, when the whole human family 
have intimately participated in one common system of things, 
whether it be of truth or of error, of science or of prejudice. 
This fact inexplicable but in the supposition of a single or 
common origin to the whole human family, we flatter our- 
selves has been clearly shewn in our previous researches up- 
on the demi-civilized nations of America. But as our inqui- 
ries were not directed towards proving the identity of the 
human race, it must be evident how small a number of the 



ON THE MANNER MEN, &C. REACHED AMERICA. 419 



proofs establishing that fact have been brought under our 
consideration; and yet I deem what has been said is sufficient- 
ly conclusive to establish this truth without further discus- 
sion, though I have at hand other facts and arguments of the 
greatest weight and importance In our next chapter, or the 
first appendix, the reader will find some additional proof up- 
on this subject, arising out of an investigation concerning 
certain matters belonging to the earliest intellectual and moral 
history of mankind. 

As respects the origin of animals, the subject is much more 
refractory. We find them living all over the surface of the 
earth, and suited by their physical conformity to a great va- 
riety of climates and peculiar localities. Every one will ad- 
mit the impossibility of ascertaining the history of their ori- 
ginal creation from the mere natural history of the animals 
themselves. 

It may therefore be reasonably expected, that naturalists 
should differ very widely among themselves on a subject in- 
volved in such great obscurity. Their theoretic opinions, 
however, may be reduced to three distinct classes. 

Some few persons have imagined that all our present 
classes of animals are but the successive developments or per- 
fections of simpler states of beings, which have been gradu- 
ally produced during a long series of ages, from monads, zoo- 
philes, and fishes. 

Others have supposed, that animals in their present forms 
were created in all those various situations where we now 
find them located. 

A third class agree in considering them to have been crea- 
ted but in one spot from whence they were dispersed over 
the world. This opinion we scarcely need add has been de- 
rived from the scripture page. 

We can with very little difficulty set aside the first of these 
opinions, it being contradicted by the universal experience 
not only of the past and present day, but even by ascending 
to those early periods of time long anterior to history, where 
the astonishitig labours of Cuvier have shewn the commence- 
ment of animal life, and the various successions of living 
creatures, until we at last arrive to the present races of ani- 
mals. During all this progress of examination, no such sup- 
posed changes in the genera or species of animals, has been 
observed even in the slightest degree.* 

* In the words of this illustrious writer, ( Cuvier, Rech. sur les oss, Foss. i. 59,) 
"if the species have chaoged by degrees we ought to tind traces of this gra- 
dual modification. Thus between the palceolherium and the species of our 
own days, we should be able to discover some intermediate forms, which, 



420 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



We have then but two opinions to examine; to wit, whether 
the Creator of the universe thought proper to make animals 
in one place only, or whether he created them in all those 
various situations where they are now found. As we cannot 
procure a solution of this matter from natural history, it be- 
comes of importance to attempt settling the subject from other 
data. The Pentateuch of Moses gives us very precise ideas 
upon the fact, but which we shall not insist upon, as their 
authority as inspired writings is not universally admitted. 
But I think we may be able to put the subject into a view 
simply historical, which may afford us a solution to the diffi- 
culty, at least, in those particulars with which we are espe- 
cially interested in this inquiry. 

Moses, who is the most ancient w T riter we possess, regard- 
ing him but as a mere historian, relates, that at a remote period 
of time our earth was overwhelmed by a universal deluge, 
which destroyed men and all the animals on the surface of 
the land, with tbe exception of a certain number who were 
preserved in an ark that floated on the surface of the waters. 

That this narration is true I cannot doubt, from finding that 
nearly every different people of the globe entertain the same 
traditionary belief. But particularly, the ancient Greeks or 
Phoenicians in their history of Deucalion, the Chaldeans in 
that of Xisthurus, the Hindus in that of Satyavrata, and the 
Mexicans in that of Tezpi, expressly declare in conjunction 
with the Bible, that the different races of land animals were 
preserved in that same ark, vessel or raft, to which the hu- 
man species were also indebted for life and preservation.* 

I therefore contend that the history of the preservation of 

however, have never yet been observed. Since the bowels (les entrailles) of 
the earth have not preserved any testimonials (monumens) of a genealogy so 
curious, is it not therefore evident that the ancient (fossil) species, were as 
permanent in their characters as those of the present time; or at least, that 
the catastrophe which destroyed them, left no time sufficient for the changes 
that are supposed to have taken place." 

* Though the mere inspection of nature cannot furnish proof upon every 
particular of this statement, yet as far as it can be examined, every fact is 
consistent with scripture history. In the words of Cuvier, perhaps, the most 
instructed geologist living, we have the following account. (Rech sur lesoss. 
Foss. i. 138.) "If there is any thing established in geology, it is that the sur- 
face of our globe has been overwhelmed (a ete viciime) by a great and sud- 
den revolution, whose dale cannot remount much beyond five or six thousand 
years; that this revolution has buried, or caused to disappear, those countries 
which had been formerly possessed by man, and those species of animals best 
known to us, and that at the same time it had laid dry the bottom of the pre- 
viously existing sea and formed those countries inhabited at the present day: 
that it was since this revolution, that the small number of individuals that 
had escaped, have propagated and spread themselves upon those lands thus 
recently laid dry, and that consequently, it is only since this epoch that soci- 
ety has been progressively improving." 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



42 i 



animals by means of the ark, is established by the direct testi- 
mony of various nations both in the eastern and western con- 
tinents, which, as I cannot conceive how they should, in parts 
so remote from each other, agree to testify to an event that 
had never taken place, it is impossible for me not to believe 
their declaration true in fact. By this history of the ark, 
therefore, we are furnished with the means of determining the 
origin of our present races of land animals, not how they were 
originally created, but that they have proceeded from those 
individuals who escaped the deluge under the auspices of the 
patriarch Noah, and who when released from the ark, as from 
a common centre, dispersed themselves all over the postdi- 
luvian world. 

But at the same time that we consider the fact itself proved 
by the historical testimony of nearly all nations, are we obliged 
to shew the means by which the preservation of so many dif- 
ferent animals was accomplished? The scriptures upon which 
we rely as an inspired work, declares it to have been done 
not by human sagacity, but, with the whole stupendous 
events of the deluge, to have been attained by the influence 
of the Creator of all things; who must certainly be consider- 
ed equal to the undertaking. 

I know not, therefore, why we should be called on to an- 
swer objections as to the impossibility of thus assembling to- 
gether animals from every climate, and every peculiar soil, 
into one locality; for we do not profess to explain the fact by 
mere natural agencies. Yet as a vast deal has been assumed 
by philosophical objectors on this subject, it cannot be alto- 
gether unimportant to shew that the miracle has been clogged 
by many unreasonable objections of difficulty. 

Mr. Laurence {Physiol. Led. 217, 221,) asserts it to have 
been zoologically impossible to have collected all living land 
animals together in the ark, and he then proceeds to relate 
the supposed insuperable objections to which such an opinion 
is liable. These, as they are sufficiently evident to every 
one who has considered this subject, we shall not extract, 
though we shall not lose sight of them in our following 
considerations. 

As to the physical impossibility of collecting all the dif- 
ferent species of land animals together in the ark, though I 
do not attempt to seek an explanation in mere natural causes, 
yet I must state, that I have seen exhibited in this city liv- 
ing animals from so many different parts of the earth, that I 
cannot suppose it an impossible matter to assemble every spe- 
cies of land animal in one place, at least, for a short period 
of time. In the course of the last year, I saw a lion, tiger, 
54 



422 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



elephant, lama, tapir, two kangaroos, a hyena, zebra, os- 
trich, and numerous baboons, monkeys, and birds, thus 
brought together from all parts of the globe. It is but rea- 
sonable to suppose a greater variety ma}* have been exhibited 
in London during the same time. To what an extent the ex- 
periment might be carried it is impossible to state, but Mr. 
Laurence might have learned, that of the two species of 
animals to whose admission in the ark he has most expressly 
objected; to wit, the polar bear, and the arctic fox, the for- 
mer has more than once been brought to England: (Pennant, 
Arctic Zool. i 54, 56. Hist. Quad. ii. 289,*) and the lat- 
ter has been seen a voluntary exile so much to the southward 
of the polar circle,t that I cannot perceive any adequate 
reason against supposing man could have brought it to any 
moderately temperate climate. 

But the magnificent collection of living animals at Paris, 
will exhibit this subject in a much stronger point of view 
than my limited observations can presume to extend them- 
selves. According to the translation of Deleuze, History 
and Descript. of Museum of Nat. Hist, at Paris, part 2d, p. 
567, 568, &c, there has been at various times in that cele- 
brated collection, the following number of living animals, 
which is of so great an extent that I shall only repeat the 
genera, and number of the species. 



Of the 


Genus 


Simia, thirty-five species. 


a 


ii 


Lemur, six do. [polar bear. 


a 


ii 


Ursus, four do; one of which U. maritimus, or the 


a 


ii 


Viverra, twelve do. 


fcC 


ii 


Cams, six do. 
Felis, eleven do. 


ii 


ii 


ii 


ii 


Phoca, two do. 


ii 


it 


Dasyurus, one do. 


ii 


ii 


Didelphis, three do. 


ii 


ii 


Phalangista, one do. 


ii 


ii 


Phascolqmis, one do. 


ii 


ii 


Sciurus, four do. 


ii 


ii 


Arctomys, one do. 


ii 


it 


Cavia, three do. 


ii 


ii 


Castor, two do. 


ii 


ii 


Dasypus, two do. 



* Cuvier says, (Rech Os Foss. i. 37,) Tours blanc a ete vu meme en Egypte 
sous les Ptolomees." The white bear was seen even in Egypt whilst under the 
dominion of the Ptolomies. 

f"The arctic fox, sometimes loses its w r ay and has been taken in places 
far from its natural haunts. The late Mr. Kalm has left an instance of one 
being taken in Westrogothia Professor Retzius favoured me with an ac- 
count of one shot near Lund, in lat. 55° 42'. (Suppt. to Arctic Zool. p. 52.) 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



Of the genus Elephas one do. 

" 4t UlCOTYLES, tWO do. 

44 44 Equus, two do.; viz. E. Quacia, and E. Zebra. 

44 44 Camelus, four do. 

" 44 Cervus, five do. 

4 4 44 Moscus, one do. 

44 44 Antelope, six do. 

44 4 4 Bos, three do. 

44 44 Capra, three do. 

4 4 44 Ovis, two do. 
From this extensive experiment made by the munificence 
of the French kings, I think we have very reasonable 
grounds to infer, that it might not be physically impossible 
to congregate all kinds of animals together in any certain lo- 
cality of the temperate zone, even from climates the most 
widely separated.* And though the food the above men- 
tioned animals received in France, undoubtedly, was not as 
congenial to their natures as that they would have selected 
for themselves in their natural countries, yet we nevertheless 
perceive they not only had endured long sea voyages, but 
they afterwards lived upon the productions of a very differ- 
ent soil.t 

I next proceed to observe, that every natural facility in 
accomplishing the preservation of animals by the ark, and in 
suiting its history with their different natures, appears to 
have been arranged with the utmost skill and wisdom. 

* According to Turton's Linnaeus, (Edition of J 806,) there are forty-four 
genera of quadrupeds known to naturalists. The French collection stated 
above contains twenty-six. Of the remaining eighteen, nine genera are 
European, which thus leaves but nine to be accounted for: of these, I can 
see no difficulty attending their importation beyond that of other animals al- 
ready carried to Paris 

f Objectors to the truth of the scripture account of the deluge, have large- 
ly expatiated upon the impossibility of providing the different classes of ani- 
mals with proper food. They seem to have entirely overlooked the wonder- 
ful power with which animals can sustain a long abstinence, or else accom- 
modate themselves to situations which appear very incongruous to our as- 
sumed views of their particular natures. The following extract very forci- 
bly illustrates this observation as far as concerns the herbivorous animals, 
yet I can see no reason why a similar mobility of nature should not prevail 
among all classes of animals. 

Hearne (Journey to Coppermine River, 244,) asserts, that "the beaver will 
eat flesh, such as partridges and venison. In fact there are few of the gra- 
minivorous animals that may not be brought to be carnivorous. It is well 
known our domestic poultry will eat animal food. Thousands of geese that 
come to London market are fattened on tallow craps; and our horses at Hud- 
son's bay would not only eat all kinds of animal food, but also drink freely 
of the wash or pot liquor intended tor the hogs; and we are assured by the 
most authentic authors, that in Iceland, not only black cattle but also the 
sheep are almost entirely r ed on fish, or fish bones during the winter season. 
Even in the Orkney islands the sheep go down to the shore to feed on the sea 
weed." 



424 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



The place of their meeting was in a temperate locality, 
suited in general perfectly well for all kinds of animals. To 
those of the warmer regions, for the most part, it was about 
the temperature of their winter or cooler season; to those 
of the frigid zone, it srarcely exceeded the summer heat 
which they annually experienced. And the place of gene- 
ral assemblage, is sufficiently remarkable above all others on 
the face of the globe, in having the greatest extremes of 
temperature brought into more immediate approximation than 
has been elsewhere discovered. 

We have no reason to think the ark had floated far from 
the spot where it was constructed,* but by nearly unanimous 
consent of ancient tradition, it rested after the deluge on 
the mountains between the Black and Caspian seas, a most 
remarkable locality either for receiving or discharging ani- 
mals according to the particular temperatures most agreeable 
to their natures. Immediately to the north, is the high and 
cold region of Tartary and Russia, which would enable 
every animal whose instinct might prefer a northern tempe- 
rature, to pass with rapidity even to the shores of the poiar 
ocean. Immediately south, the transition from a temperate 
region to the heated plains of Armenia and Arabia is equally 
rapid, while in any direction either east or west, the animals 
of the temperate zones could locate themselves without dif- 
ficulty, as far as climate alone is concerned. 

Now, in the resettlement of the earth after the flood, we 
must also bear in mind that there are but three contiguous 
zones of the earth to supply with animals; to wit, the north- 
ern polar region, the northern temperate region, and the tor- 
rid zone. Therefore, no animal after leaving the ark had to 
cross or pass through a zone or temperature uncongenial to 
its nature. There is no southern temperate, or southern po- 
lar region, to supply with terrestrial animals; for there are 
no animals to my knowledge, either in the southern extre- 
mities of Africa or America, that are not found to live 
equally well within the tropics. At any rate, the genial in- 
fluence of a tropical climate, in the eastern continent is con- 
tinued to the Cape of Good Hope; and in America, though 
the southern extremity of Patagonia and Tierra Dei Fuego 
are cold regions, they are either without terrestrial animals, 
or possess such as live in the vicinity or on the mountains of 
Chili. Now, this chain of mountains extends from the arc- 
tic regions of America to the southern extremity of the 
continent; and by reason of their great elevation, carry a 

* "Neque enim verisimile est machinam tantae molis, formae quadran^ula- 
ris; neque ad motum comparate, tarn multis animalibus et cibariis gravem, 
facile potuisse longum iter emetiri." Bochart, Phaleg, lib. i. chap. 4.) 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



425 



cool or even freezing temperature through the tropics to 
Cape Horn. Upon any part of this chain, animals simply- 
terrestrial might live as vveii as at the polar regions. I know 
not whether this fact be at all necessary to explain the zoolo- 
gy of Tierra del Fuego; for according to our information, 
there are no land animals found there hitherto that have not 
been observed in Chili. 

But there is a remarkable circumstance in the history of 
animals to be taken notice of, which I think inexplicable ex- 
cept in the fact of their having been preserved in the ark of 
Noah; for I have been unable to discern any other event in 
the history of the world in the least degree explanatory of 
the circumstance. I allude to the history of our domestic 
quadrupeds. My attention was directed to this very inter- 
esting subject, in observing the entire inability of our natu- 
ralists to ascertain either their original native countries, or 
the wild animals from whom they might be supposed to have 
been derived.* After some examination of this subject, 
and from finding the little agreement among mturaiists on 
these particulars, I can scarcely hesitate to assert, that we 
know neither the savage stock nor the original country of 
the horse, ass, ox, sheep, goat, hog, camel, dog, and cat. 

This very curious fact is susceptible of but one explana- 
tion. After the subsidence of the waters of the deluge, by 
which every animal savage or domestic had been destroyed, 
the ark was opened for the replenishment of the earth, and 
the animals it contained were suffered to escape to whatever 
localities their instincts might direct them. But we may 
very naturally conclude, that the patriarch Noah and his fa- 
mily were not so simple, as to permit the useful domestic 
animals to also wander off whither they pleased. We may 
reasonably suppose they were restrained for economical pur- 
poses, just as any one possessing common sense would do at 
the present time if placed under similar circumstances. The 
consequence therefore is evident, that our domestic animals 
from the time of the deluge have been in servitude to man, 
and it is no way surprising that we are ignorant of their sa- 
vage stock or of their originally native countries. t 

Now, when we consider the facility with which strayed 
horses and oxen have multiplied themselves in South Ame- 

* "To determine the original stock of our domestic animals is one of the 
most difficult undertakings in zoology." (Laurence, Led. on Physiol. 224, 
note.) 

f Every historical testimony concurs in deriving our domestic animals 
from Persia, Armenia, or the adjacent country. But there it was that the 
ark rested after the flood, and there it was that the fathers of mankind ori- 
ginally established themselves. 



426 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



rica into immense herds, I cannot see the reason, why, if the 
original stock had ever been in a wild state since the flood, 
they should not be yet found somewhere or other in their 
savage condition; yet of all the animals we have enumerated 
nothing but confusion and uncertainty prevails on the sub- 
ject of their origin. 

For a long time I had assented to the universal opinion, 
that our domestic animals might be traced to certain wild 
species to which the more general conjectures of the natu- 
ralists had directed our attention. And though there were 
some very sensible differences between the supposed wild 
and domestic animals, yet it seemed plausibly explained, by 
supposing these differences were the result of their domestic 
servitude and frequent cross breedings. The wonderful re- 
searches of Cuvier have, however, in certain instances shewn 
that our suppositions on this matter have been very errone- 
ous. In his discourse on the domestic ox, (Rech. Os. Fos- 
siles, iv. 109, &c.) he has shewn from its unvarying charac- 
ter through all its varieties, that there is no living savage 
animal from whom it can be derived. Yet fossil bones, found 
in various parts of Europe, have shewn that the species of 
the domestic ox, (Cuvier, Bech. iv. 108, 165, 303, 305 v. 
512,) remounts at least to the era of the last of those great 
catastrophes that have overwhelmed the animals on the face 
of the earth: or in other words to the time of the deluge.* 

If then, we repeat it, there are no wild oxen, horses, sheep, 
camels, &c. known in any part of the earth, unless in those 
instances where we can trace their origin to such as had been 
liberated by man, or had strayed from his custody, it is 
scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion we have drawn 
from the fact, that the stock of our domestic animals have 
never been in a wild state since the deluge. And as there is 
no possibility of having congregated together the entire dif- 
ferent stocks of all of our domestic animals, in any other 
manner than by Ihe events recorded of the deluge and the 
ark of Noah, I cannot but consider we have attained a most 
important and conclusive argument, in favour of our hypo- 
thesis concerning the origin of all postdiluvian animals. If 
any catastrophe has universally destroyed the wild stocks of 
all our domestic animals, it must certainly have also destroy- 
ed every other species of quadruped. 

Having now produced what was deemed necessary to as- 
certain the history of the origin of man and animals, we feel 
ourselves justified in following the scripture relation that they 

* The bones of horses have also been found in a fossil state mingled with 
those of unknown animals. (Cuvier, Rech. Oss. Foss. ii. 110, 112, 113. v. 512.) 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



427 



have been produced from those individuals alone, who with 
Noah escaped from the waters of the universal deluge. We 
have now sufficient data afforded us, to proceed in our inves- 
tigation concerning the manner in which the men and ani- 
mals of America reached this continent, and to the solution 
of that difficult question we shall now direct our investiga- 
tion. 

A simple inspection of the map of the world, at once 
shews the physical difficulties which embarrass the question, 
In what manner was this continent stocked with its aboriginal 
men and animals? 

The two continents separated by immense oceans on either 
side, approximate only by inhospitable regions within the 
arctic circle, from whence the distance between them in- 
creases, until their southern extremities terminate with about 
ninety degrees of longitude apart. 

It is possible that the straits between Asia and America, 
may be closed in the winter season by fixed or floating ice, 
as the distance across is not above forty miles. The sea be- 
tween Europe and America being fourteen hundred miles 
in width, declares an impossibility that the shores of the 
two latter portions of the globe have been ever connect- 
ed together in like manner. Therefore, unless the fro- 
zen straits of Behring gave access to the men and animals 
found originally in America, they could only have been 
transported in vessels; or, that ancient means of communica- 
tions by land once existed between the eastern and western 
continents, which have been destroyed in some mighty phy- 
sical revolution of the earth. The truth must be found 
somewhere or other in these theoretic conjectures, though it 
must be acknowledged that much inquiry and discussion 
will be necessary to ascertain how far one or all of these 
suppositions may be sufficient to explain the mystery of 
American population. 

As far as men alone are concerned, they might have pass- 
ed at Behring's straits, either in the winter over ice, or in 
summer in their boats. Or they might have arrived either 
from Europe or Asia in more southern latitudes, in ships 
impelled by stress of weather, or from the adventurous spi- 
rit of sailing through an unexplored ocean. 

But if ever these latter contingencies have taken place, 
the instances have been very few, and of no importance, or 
they have occurred in times so remote that all remembrance 
of them has been lost, and the almost total dissimilarity of the 
aboriginal Americans from Europeans or Asiatics, in lan- 
guage, institutions, and arts essential to life, known in the 



428 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



eastern continent from the remotest times, leaves the history 
of their origin involved in the greatest obscurity. 

Therefore, admitting the possibility of human emigration 
in the different ways as above stated, though we think nei- 
ther the one nor the other has been yet proved,* the most in- 
teresting and difficult part of the problem remains to be 
solved, by shewing in what manner the various animals of 
America reached the continent. This is an essential part of 
the investigation, and cannot be separated from the history 
of our aborigines by any one agreeing with us in the theory 
of their original creation; and to examine into this difficulty 
of transporting animals will be our first subject of discourse. 
If a way can be shewn explaining consistently the manner 
by which America derived her animals, it is evident the 
same would offer another mean of emigration to man, in ad- 
dition to the possibilities heretofore described at Behring's 
straits or over the ocean in ships. 

If any one have the hardihood to maintain that the Ame- 
rican animals passed from Asia by Behring's straits, they 
must inform us how those animals, now living only in the 
hottest parts of America, were enabled to endure the rigor 
of a winter in the arctic circle, at which time alone, the 
connecting ice would afford them a passage. At this season 
of five or six months night, the cold is so intense as to con- 
geal spirits of wine; and is attended with a deep and frozen 
snow, covering the scanty herbage of the summer, above a 
thousand miles of latitude on either side of Behring's straits. 
These circumstances effectually destroy the possibility of 
emigration in this neighborhood, even to animals of the 
temperate zone, much more to those belonging to the 
tropics. 

If we venture to look elsewhere for a passage available 
to animals by their instincts alone, we must at once abandon 
the attempt; for nothing but immense oceans studded with 
occasion si islands meet the eye, declaring the impossibility 
of their having passed either from the eastern or western 
shores of the other continent, unless by the aid of man. 

* Facts, as far as we have ascertained them, do not even countenance the 
idea of the emigration of men by Behring's straits, if we are to judge either 
by ]anguages, or the appearance of the different people on either side. 
Cook says, "All the Americans we had seen since our arrival on that coast, 
were rather low of stature, with round chubby faces, and high cheek bones: 
the people we now were among, (the Tschutchi) far from resembling-them, 
had long visages, and were stout and well made; in short, they appeared to 
be quite a different nation. (Cook's Voy. JV* H. 4° ii. 448.) 

The Americans about lat. 56° and 58° N. could not understand the 
Tschutschian or Koriak interpreters brought by Behring and Tscihirikow. 
(Midler 's Russian Voyages, 88.) 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



429 



But men who may have crossed the ocean in ships, could 
not have transported them; for who would have brought the 
rattlesnake, the couguar, the jaguar and other venomous or 
ferocious animals? besides, it is absolutely impossible to have 
brought away whole races of animals from the other conti- 
nent, so as not to leave a single pair of the species behind. 

Such then being the case, we must have recourse to the 
supposition that some great revolution of our globe has taken 
place, by which the ancient means of communication be- 
tween the two continents have been destroyed; and it there- 
fore now remains that we investigate this theory, appa- 
rently so important to the understanding of the early histo- 
ry of man and animals; for it is evident that such mighty 
changes as are here implied must affect the entire history 
of the globe. 

The first argument that strikes us in this matter, is deriv- 
ed from the important fact, that the animals of this conti- 
nent, are, with a few exceptions, peculiar to America; and 
are not to be found elsewhere. It therefore follows con- 
clusively, that they must have located themselves by uner- 
ring instinct, which could only be accomplished by means 
of land that once connected the eastern and western conti- 
nents together. This argument will be perceived in all its 
force, if we advert to the peculiarities of zoological geo- 
graphy throughout the whole earth. 

From not attending to the laws that have regulated the 
distribution of animals throughout the globe, the mistaken 
impression has arisen that there was something very per- 
plexing in the fact that various animals were found in Ame- 
rica, which could not be discovered in any part of the east- 
ern continent; and hence it seemed impossible to derive 
them from the latter. But we will presently show, as far 
as regards this one difficulty of peculiarity, that Asia, Afri- 
ca, and Europe, are precisely in the same situation with 
respect to one another, as they conjointly are to America; 
for each of these portions of the earth has animals peculiar 
to itself, and not common to the other. Thus the camele- 
pardalis, the hippopotamus, &c. are found solely in Africa^ 
the tiger, one horned rhinoceros, &c. in Asia; and various 
smaller animals are peculiar to Europe. To exhibit the 
subject in numbers, perhaps not very accurate, of the class 
mamalia there are peculiar to Asia 115, to Africa SO, to 
Europe 16, and to America 145.* 

*The total number of species of the class mamalia, according to Shaw, 
is about 610 Of this number, 40 are whales, seals, &.c which du not come 
under our consideration: 66 are not designated by him as pertaining to 
55 



430 ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



Therefore, instead of wondering at the peculiarities of 
American zoology, let us inquire how it happens that 
there are animals peculiar to Asia and not found in Europe, 
for these two portions of the globe are separated from each 
other by the Uralian mountains, and an ideal line alone, and 
therefore, no insuperable difficulty is opposed to their emi- 
gration. Asia and Africa again are connected by an isth- 
mus; yet why has each its peculiar animals? Or to state the 
subject still more forcibly, let us consider the fact that there 
are numerous birds peculiar to Asia, x\frica, and Europe, 
whose capacity of flight renders mountains and seas ineffec- 
tual barriers to emigration. How does this happen? In 
whatever manner we may account for these various locali- 
ties of animals, it is undeniable that every species of 
beast, bird, reptile, fish or insect, has been fitted by nature 
to peculiar situations congenial to them, and which they by 
instinct prefer and inhabit. 

As zoological geography has been very little studied, and 
as it is of essential importance to a correct view of the sub- 
ject we have undertaken to discuss, it is considered of mo- 
ment to have the theory of zoological peculiarities establish- 
ed by some few details. 

Naturalists, in speaking of the localities and emigrations 
of animals, refer them almost exclusively to temperatures 
and latitudes. But climate is not the greatest cause of ani- 
.mal location; for we see very different animals living at dif- 
ferent longitudes along the same parallel of latitude; and 
others restrained to particular sections of country, when 
there is no discoverable reason why they should not be found 
also in an adjoining district. Thus the musk bull, which 
even winters in the arctic circle, (Hearne, 136, 171,) is 
not found in Asia, or elsewhere than in North America.* 
Nor has the American rein deer been ever seen in Siberia. 
(Ma/te-Brun, Geog. book 75.) Now if animals in locating 

any particular country, 15 species are stated to belong to Australasia; and 
94 are considered as being more or less common to various parts of the 
earth. But we have every reason to believe, that animals are located in 
various parts of the globe, according to genera and species, and that few, 
probably none, are common to widely extended parts. This subject is yet 
far from being accurately understood; Dr. Prichard, in sections zd and 3d 
of chapter 3d, of his History of Man, has made a good beginning, though 
he is certainly mistaken in several particulars. It is to be hoped some 
zoologist will take this subject into serious consideration, and oblige the 
world with a good account ol zoological geography. 

* Professor Pallas is reported to have found the skull of a musk bull near 
the river Oby. It is not impossible that it had been carried thither by acci- 
dent; but most probanly it was fossiJ, the shores of the frozen ocean 
abounding in similar remains. (MaUe-Bmn's Geo. lib. 37. Brandes- Journal. 
xiii. 437.) 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



431 



themselves on the. earth, had alone regarded temperature, 
these two certainly ought to he common to both continents. 

Pinkerton (Geog i. 98,) observes, that "the nightingale 
Is not found in North Wales, nor any where to the north, 
(of England,) except about Doneaster, where it abounds; nor 
does it travel so far west as Devonshire and Cornwall. This 
limitation is remarkable, as these birds are found in the se- 
vere climate of Sweden." 

" ^he sparrow of Europe is found in all the inhabited dis- 
tricts of Egypt. They are in like manner diffused over 
Nubia and even over Abyssinia. Excessive heat, therefore, 
does not disagree with them. At the same time, they are 
not to be found along the western coast of Africa, from Cape 
Blanco, or near about it Not being able to ascribe the 
cause of this fact to excessive heat, I think I can account for 
it from the difference of the alimentary plants used in those 
parts of Africa." (Sonnini, Travels in Egypt, i. 135.) 

"The lamas are common to the kingdoms of Peru and 
Quito; the vicunias, on the contrary, are only found, in Pe- 
ru,'' although these two kingdoms are on the same conti- 
nent, and have the same climate, air, and pasture. 

"On the other hand, there are quantities of wild rabbits 
(lapins*) in Quito, similar in all respects to those of Europe, 
while there is not one in Peru: and again, we find the vis- 
cachas, (an animal something like a rabbit, but with a tail 
resembling the squirrel) in Peru, which we look for in vain 
in Quito." (Memoires Philosoph. par Don. Ulloa, i. Ifci2 
and 164.) 

Symes (Embassy to Ava, ii. 390,) observes, "It is a 
singular circumstance, that there should not be such an ani- 
mal as the jackall in the Ava dominions, considering that 
they are so numerous in the adjoining country." 

Our preceding statements, in conformity with the univer- 
sal observations of all well instructed zoologists of the pre- 
sent day, seem to point out very conclusively, that animals 
have been located by nature to peculiar situations over all 
the earth, which location does not depend alone upon tem- 
perature; but that food,* or other inducements hitherto un- 
detected, have influenced their instincts to fix themselves in 
certain circumscribed districts; and that they do not pre- 
fer one land, or country, or latitude, equally well with 

* Peron and Lesueur, in their voyage to New Holland, &c. observe, that 
they saw no trees producing fruits of any kind; and directly remark on this 
fact, that perhaps, this was the reason they found none of the monkey tribes 
there, or any other animal essentially fruit eaters. ( Voyage aux Terres Am- 
trales, i. 78 ) 



432 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



another.* If this be true, and we^do not think it can be 
controverted, every thing that has been considered inexpli- 
cable in the peculiarity of American animals, is removed by 
showing that every animal, whether of the eastern or west- 
ern continent, is equally peculiar in its locality. 

Our only remaining difficulty is to establish the fact, that 
they reached this continent by a voluntary emigration. But 
to justify this theory, it is absolutely necessary that we 
prove land once existed across the great Pacific or Atlantic 
oceans, and in both of which we think we can shew no 
slight proof of stupendous convulsions. 

On casting our eyes over a map of the Pacific ocean, we 
see an almost innumerable number of islands of greater or 
less magnitude, extending from the eastern coasts of Malac- 
ca and China, to the 45° of south latitude; and in an easterly 
direction for 170° of longitude. The bare inspection of the 
map alone gives rise to impressions, that these broken and 
shattered islands are but the remains of an immense body of 
land that once existed in these seas; and which has been 
submerged or destroyed in times anterior to any human re- 
cord. The majority of readers refer the formation of these 
islands to the Noachic deluge; not being aware of the nu- 
merous facts, that modern enterprise has shewn us pertain 
to these islands, and which cannot be reconciled but to a ca- 
tastrophe that has happened long after that memorable event. 
This we consider to be established by the curious facts that 
can be ascertained by investigating the origin of the men 
and animals found in possession of these insular spots of 
the great Pacific ocean. 

Taking the animals first under consideration, we observe 
thai certain species are pretty generally diffused throughout 
these islands, such as hogs, dogs, poultry, &c. similar, as 
far as has been ascertained, to those domesticated on the 
coasts of Asia. In certain islands, however, their zoology 
is exclusively peculiar, and of which we shall subjoin the 
most prominent instances of those species, that can neither 
fly nor swim; for such only are of material use to us in our 
present discussion. 

The orang-otang, is only found in Borneo; and the pro- 
boscis monkey, in the Sunda islands. {Laurence, Phys. 
Lec. 195.) 

Cuvier mentions a rhinoceros peculiar to Java, and ano- 

*The celebrated John Hunter, could not breed the Virginian opossum in 
England, with all his care and attention; yet this animal is found from 
Canada to Peru, Ulloa Voy i 44, i and attaius its perfection equally well 
throughout this vast extent of country. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



433 



ther to Sumatra, which are not found in Asia. (Discours 
sur les revolutions du globe 69.) 

The galeated cassowary, is peculiar and confined to Java, 
Banda, and a few other islands in the Indian Archipelago. 
{Pennant, Outlines of the Globe, iv. 8.) 

In New Holland, is a species of cassowary, fthe emu) which 
is peculiar to that island, unless it be the same species that 
is also found in New Zealand. 

In New Holland, we find forty species of animals, 
{Prichard, Hist. Man, 37,) peculiar to that great island; 
such as the kangaroo, dasyurus, phalanger, &c. 

The following observation on the animals of Van Die- 
man's land, and other islands adjacent to New Holland, 
made by two eminent naturalists on the spot, are too impor- 
tant to be given in any other than their own words. 

On Van Dieman's land, Peron and Lesueur {Laurence, 
Physiol. Lectures, page 218,) observe, all the animals which 
we have collected here which can be regarded peculiar to 
the soil, such as the mamalia, reptiles, &c. are specifically 
different from the animals of New Holland: the greater part 
even of the species that inhabit this island, do not exist upon 
the great island of New Holland, though in its vicinity. 

"The striped kangaroo, peoples with its herds the three 
islands of Bernier, Dorre, and Dirk Hartighs, (N. W. coast 
New Holland 25° S. lat. ) but of this species, we found none 
in any part of New Holland or in any of the islands which 
we surveyed in succession. The same phenomena will 
hereafter be seen with respect to the various species of kan- 
garoos; that is to say, that each species will be seen to exist 
on such and such islands, or on such and such lands, without 
any one of them appearing beyond the limits peculiar to its 
species." [Voyage aux Terres Australes, i. 115.) 

Thus far, according to our present knowledge of the zoo- 
logy of these islands, are we able to state the number of 
animals found on them, incapable of swimming or flying, 
and that are not domesticated by man. Though compara- 
tively few in number to those which are peculiar to the 
great continents, I doubt not they are about in fair propor- 
tion, numerically, to an equal number of square miles, 
whether estimated in Asia or America. But whether this 
estimate be correct or not, the deduction is irresistible, that 
these peculiar animals could not have reached their present 
localities, unless land once existed between these islands and 
the Asiatic continent. Men could not have transported them 
from Asia, because none are to be found there; and it is in- 
credible, that entire genera could have been taken away, so 



434 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



as not to leave a single pair behind, setting aside the utter 
unlikelihood that such men as are found in these islands, 
ever did attempt to sail with living animals in their canoes 
to islands often a thousand miles distant from the nearest 
land. Yet such is the only theory on this part of our sub- 
ject, against which we shall have to contend. 

On the American side of the Pacific ocean, there are but 
few islands, and those widely separated from each other; they 
lie at about the general distance of six hundred miles from 
the shores of that continent. These spots known under the 
names of Massafuero, Juan Fernandes, St. Julian and Am- 
brose, the Gallapagos, and Isles of Revillagigedo, have been 
so little explored, that, with the exception of the Gallapagos 
islands, we are unable to state whether there be any animals 
peculiar to them, whose conformation would add any inte- 
rest to our present inquiry. 

But at. the Gallapagos islands are found great numbers of 
a species of land tortoise* whose history is very singular. 
If they are a variety of the Testudo Indica, they are not less 
distant from the parent stock than the equatorial breadth of 
the whole Pacific ocean. If they are a distinct species, which 
is probably the case, they are peculiar to this group of islands 
alone. I have been informed by intelligent seamen who 
have landed there, that these tortoises sometimes weigh three 
hundred pounds, though their general weight is 70, 80, and 
100 pounds. This is mentioned to prove they are not to be 
found in South America, for their great size would not have 
permitted them to have been hitherto overlooked by travel- 
lers, especially as the Spaniards at Lima purchase them for 
food when brought thither from the Gallapagos islands. 

That these animals cannot swim, though they may float in 
the water, we learn expressly from the Journal of Capt. Por- 
ter, late of the U. S. Navy, who informs us that a vessel 
chased by him threw overboard about fifty tortoises, which 
several days after he picked up in the same place where they 
had been thrown, they being unable to make any other ex- 
ertion in the water than stretching out their long necks. 
{Porter's Journal, 1st part, 162 ) 

As I think it undeniable, that these animals are not found 
in America, nor elsewhere than India, supposing them to be 
varieties of the Testudo Indica, and as we shall soon furnish 
abundant proof that men could not have transported them, 
it will follow conclusively that land must have existed from 

* Guanoes, snakes, and lizards, are also found at the Gallapagos; but as 
we know nothiug of their species we forbear to notice them. As to the 
fact see Porter's Journal, i. 229, 231. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



435 



the eastern shores of Asia, at least to the islands where these 
tortoises are now found. This fact will supply any evidence 
that might seem wanting to testify for continuous land in that 
part of the ocean, where at the present time exists nothing 
but a clear expanse of water for two thousand seven hundred 
miles. 

Hitherto, only animals peculiar to the Asiatic and Pacific 
oceans, have been brought forward to substantiate our theory. 
Those domesticated by man, might have been transported by 
him under certain restrictions to moderate distances from 
other lands or islands. But we shall presently find, that even 
the origin of this last class of animals, will not, in numerous 
instances, bear any other explanation than the one given in 
the case of peculiar animals, unless recourse be had to the 
most improbable suppositions. This circumstance, however, 
will be considered in connexion with the history of the 
islanders of the Pacific ocean, which we consider will pro- 
duce an important verification of the correctness of our hy- 
pothesis. 

Though a most conclusive proof of the existence of contin- 
uous land across the Pacific ocean, is to be found in the histo- 
ry of animals peculiar to certain islands in that sea, as but just 
shewn, yet a direct proof can also be given by investigating 
the history and circumstances under which we find its nu- 
merous islanders are at present located. 

It would greatly aid this undertaking, could we furnish the 
reader with correct ideas of the distances that these islanders 
lie apart. But they amount to so many instances that we 
despair of such an attempt, and must therefore refer to the 
maps of the Pacific ocean for this purpose, if the reader be 
not already aware of the important fact, that many of these 
islands are often a thousand and more miles distant from each 
other, or the main land. 

Those who consider the islands of the Pacific ocean to have 
been formed either before or during the Noachic deluge, also 
consider them to have been at one time since that cataclysm 
destitute of men and animals, until either a direct navigation 
or lucky accident supplied them from the eastern continent 
with their present inhabitants. Both of these possibilities 
have been put under large requisition. Where any induce- 
ment to trade exists, maritime and commercial nations are 
supposed to have resorted, who gradually established colonies 
in various convenient situations. But as the barbarity and 
ignorance of the greater part of these islanders, is completely 
at variance with the idea of connexion with commercial na- 
tions, which always implies more or less civilization, a fuiv 



43t> 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEM 



ther source of origin is insisted upon, by the supposition that 
persons whilst engaged in fishing, or other aquatic employ- 
ment, have been blown off from their native shores, and driv- 
en before the winds to other lands, so remote that they were 
never able to return to their native islands. By these acci- 
dents recurring time after time during the revolution of cen- 
turies, it has been concluded that man has been gradually 
spread throughout this immense ocean. 

That such accidents have occasionally happened there can 
be no doubt; but that they have taken place as often as the 
theory will require, we are well prepared to dispute. 

It is a remarkable circumstance that these islanders for the 
most part, bear such a resemblance to each other in person, 
habits, and language, that their identity of descent is so very 
evident, that all navigators in this sea appear to agree in that 
opinion. The great extent of ocean they occupy may be es- 
timated by the following observation of Capt. Cook. "We 
find the language of the South sea islanders, from New Zea- 
land in the south, as far as the Sandwich islands to the north, 
and in another direction, from Easter island to the New He- 
brides, to be dialects of the Otaheitan, that is, over an extent 
of ocean b'0° of latitude, or 1200 leagues north and south, and 
83° longitude east and west." (Cook's Voyages, ii. 251.) 

Or in other words, this Otaheitan race who are of a fair, 
brown, or olive complexion, and with long hair, occupy Su- 
matra, Java, Celebes, Magindanao, the Moluccas, Phillipines, 
Ladrone or Marianne islands; also the Mulgrave, Navigator, 
Society, Easter, the Sandwich islands, and New Zealand. 

Bordering on this race of islanders, and even considerably 
mingled with them, is a race of black men with woolly hair, 
called by naturalists Papuas. These occupy, for the most 
part, the remaining islands of this ocean, and are probably 
of the same stock with the black mountaineers of the Malay 
peninsula, and natives of the Andaman islands. (Jlsiat. Res. 
x. 218.) They are also supposed to have been the original 
inhabitants of Magindinao, and indeed of all the Phillipines; 
the Isla de Negros is in particular entirely possessed by them. 
(Mear's Voyage, \. 65.) They also inhabit the inland parts 
of the Moluccas islands. (Forrest, 6S.) They are found in 
Borneo, and most of the larger islands of the eastern seas. 
(Baffle's Java, ii. append, ccxxxv.) But they more parti- 
cularly inhabit Papua or New Guinea, the Solomon islands, 
New Holland, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, and Van 
Dieman's land. The diffusion of this race in an easterly di- 
rection has been restrained by the Otaheitan stock, but to 
what degree our present state of knowledge does not justify 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



437 



us to conjecture. I know of no general theory accounting for 
the origin of this barbarous race, whose language, apparent- 
ly broken into a great number of dialects, has hardly been 
examined. 

Those who have hitherto speculated upon the origin of the 
Otaheitan race, have sought it among the Javans, Sumatrans, 
Macassars, Malays, and other nations of the Indian islands, 
whose commercial habits lead them to make frequent and 
even long voyages in the Indian seas; and certain affinities 
in language have justified the general hypothesis. The Ma- 
lays in particular, have been brought forward so frequently 
as the parent stock of the South sea islanders, that the latter 
are sometimes called a Malay race, or the Malay diffusion. 

Whatever was originally ingenious in this theory, has been 
set aside more recently by the discovery, that the Malays 
themselves have been established in the Indian islands, only 
since the time of Mahomet; which at once precludes the 
possibility of such extensive diffusion. The analogy pointed 
out as existing between their language and that of the South 
sea islanders, has been referred to the adoption of words by 
the Malays themselves from the inhabitants of the larger 
Indian islands, who are certainly akin to those of the Pacific 
ocean. It is not deemed necessary to bring forward any argu- 
ment disproving the Malay theory. It has been so perfect- 
ly overthrown by Dr. Leyden, Marsden, Raffles, &c. that 
no well informed writer will hereafter attempt its support.* 

* As the origin of the Malays may be unknown to some of my readers, I 
subjoin the statement of the late governor Raffles, who personally resided 
among this people, and who is besides the latest writer on their history. 
''The island of Sumatra, Jawa, Tana, Ugi or Bugisland, ^ Celebes) Sulu, the 
Moluccas, and Borneo, compose what may be properly termed the Malayan 
group; and are peopled by nations radically distinct from the Malays; they 
speak languages entirely different, and use various written characters origi- 
nal and peculiar to each. These nations are governed by their several laws 
and institutions, and if we except the state of Menangcabaw on the island 
of Sumatra, it is on the shores of these islands only and in the Malayu 
peninsula that the Malayus are to be found. Whatever may have been the 
origin of the Malayu nation, the primary population of these various and ex- 
tensive islands, could never, according to any natural inference, have pro- 
ceeded from the Malays, though the reverse may probably have been the 
case, whatever may have been borrowed from a more foreign source. 

"The most obvious and natural theory on the origin of the Malays is, that 
they did not exist as a separate and distinct nation until the arrival of the 
Arabians in the eastern seas. At the present day, they seem to differ from 
the more original nations from which they sprung, in about the same degree 
as the Chulias of Kiling differ from the Tamul and Telinga nations on the 
Coromandel coast; or the Mapillas of Malabar differ from the Nairs, both 
which people appear in like manner with the Malays, to have been gradual- 
ly formed as nations and separated from their original stock, by the admix- 
ture of Arabian blood and the introduction of the Arabic language and 
Moslem religion." See Raffles on the Malayu Nation. Asiat. Research, xii. 
102, 127. 

56 



438 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



By thus rejecting the Malays as the progenitors of the 
South sea islanders, it will not follow, that other people of 
the Indian coasts and islands have not furnished their origi- 
nal stock. But if this be the case, the question is hitherto 
undecided, and we have the claim of no particular nation to 
contend against. We shall therefore take up our argument 
against them all, by shewing the inexplicable difficulties that 
oppose the admission of such general theory, if based upon 
the supposition, that this was accomplished by means of di- 
rect or indirect navigation. It is admitted that a relation- 
ship exists between them, but whether it be not rather that of 
brethren, than of descendants, will depend upon an accurate 
investigation of this subject. 

Let us now proceed to examine into the circumstances 
under which the Otaheitan and Papuan races have extended 
themselves in the Pacific ocean. 

Beginning with New Zealand in the south; we find on 
this island, a population varying from a "pretty deep black" 
to a yellowish or olive tinged complexion. {Anderson in 
Cook's Voy. North. Hem. i. 154.) Capt. Cook in his for- 
mer voyage, (Hawksivorth, iii. 42,) says, "their colour in 
general is brown, but in few deeper than that of a Spa- 
niard who has been exposed to the sun, in many not so deep. ,? 
Cruise (Voyage to N. Zealand, 277,) says, the lower class 
of people are almost black. From these different accounts, 
we may infer, that there is an admixture of the Otaheitan 
and Papuan races in this island, as has been observed to ex- 
ist in many other islands of this ocean. 

As it is a matter of importance to consider the history of 
the animals found on these islands, in connexion with the 
islanders themselves, we shall state, that the animals hitherto 
found in New Zealand, are only rats, a species of fox dog, 
which is domesticated by the natives, and the species of cas- 
sowary called the emu, which we have already remarked to 
be incapable of swimming or flying. 

Now, in what manner did the black population arrive at 
New Zealand? Can it be supposed that prospects of com- 
mercial gain, induced the people of New Holland to sail in 
their canoes 1200 miles to this island, which is the distance 
between them, and unbroken by any intermediate land? 
And how did the Otaheitan stock reach this spot? Was it 
trade, or a laudable desire to populate desert islands, that in- 
duced them to sail towards the south pole from the Friendly 
islands; the nearest place from which we can derive them an 
origin, but whir-h are 1500 miles distant over a clear expanse 
of ocean. Such suppositions are too absurd for a moment's 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



439 



consideration. But might not this population have been 
driven by stress of weather in their canoes, both from New- 
Holland and the Friendly islands? This I will not say is 
absolutely impossible, but if they did reach New Zealand, it 
must have been under the following contingencies. 

1st. There must have been two violent storms, one from 
New Holland, and the other from the Friendly islands, 
which drove at least two canoes, the one 1200, and the other 
1500 miles. 

2d. There must have been in each canoe two or more per- 
sons of different sexes. 

3d. In the canoe from New Holland, they must have 
brought a male and female emu. 

4th. In the canoe of one or the other, they must have 
brought a male and female fox dog. 

5th. In like manner transportation must be found for a 
pair of rats, which it seems to me will require another ca- 
noe; for these and the dogs hardly came together. 

6th. The two canoes must have been supplied with provi- 
sion and water for man and beast, for fifteen or twenty days 
at the lowest computation; or else if a deficiency of food 
prevailed, the emus, not to say the dogs, and rats also,* 
would have fallen beneath the hungry appetites of their mas- 
ters, who at the best of times are not fastidious in what they 
eat. 

Now, can any thing be more ridiculous than a theory 
which requires the cooperation of such extraordinary con- 
tingencies, and that to people but a single island; can it be 
possible that learned men have maintained such an hypothe- 
sis? Strange and inconsiderate as it may seem, this is a fact; 
they do not, it is true, detail it as we have done above, but 
they nevertheless maintain it in principle. But let us pro- 
ceed with further illustrations of this theory, that is suppos- 
ed sufficient to account for the human and animal stocks on 
other islands in this sea. 

Let us now consider the history of the Sandwich islands 
in the north. These are distant from the Mulgrave islands 
about sixteen hundred miles; and from the islands of Rogge- 
wein about eighteen hundred miles. From one or the other 
of which their population must be derived according to the 

* Our information concerning the zoology of N. Zealand is very imperfect. 
In all probability there are other animals there besides those known to us at 
present. Nicholas (Voyage to N. Zealand, ii. 255,) describes the burrow of 
an animal, which he conjectured might be that of the guana. J. R. Forster 
says the quail of this island has all the manners of the European bird, which 
is, I believe, a bird of very small powers of flight. If these accounts are 
correct, we must add these animals to the cargo of the canoes of our text. 



440 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



prevailing theory, which also supposes they were driven to 
this group of islands by stress of weather. 

The necessary concurrence of the same extraordinary con- 
tingencies that we have enumerated in our observations 
upon the men and animals of New Zealand, are required to 
account for the population of these islands. Persons of 
either sex must have been on board the canoes thus tempest 
driven, with sufficient provision and water to support them 
for this voyage of sixteen hundred miles, which could hard- 
ly be performed in less than three weeks. But then we have 
only carried the human species thither, how did the hogS) 
dogs, rats, and poultry arrive which abound in these islands? 
One canoe can hardly be supposed to have brought one man, 
and one woman, one dog and bitch, one boar and sow, one 
male and one female rat, one cock and one hen, which is 
the least of each kind necessary, and with sufficient provi- 
sion and water to support their lives during this voyage 
through the tempestuous waves of a troubled ocean? How 
many other tempest driven canoe voyages, under equally 
perplexing circumstances, are necessary to have stocked this 
insulated group, after a sixteen or eighteen hundred miles 
voyage?* 

Nor are we done with these extraordinary voyages though 
unattended with the difficulty of such extreme distances. 
Under the same concatenation of lucky coincidences, we 
must first bring men and women, with hogs, dogs, rats, and 
poultry, from the Solomon to theFidgi islands, a distance of 
about six hundred miles, and then having given them time 
to increase and multiply to a reasonable number, we are to 
suppose that sudden storms blew off in one or more canoes, 
a man and a woman, a boar and a sow, a dog and bitch, a 
male and female rat, and a cock and hen; these we are to 
suppose got safely through the dangers that menaced them, 
and arrived at the Friendly islands,! distant about two hun- 

* We have in this notice of the Sandwich islanders, assumed the nearest 
places of origin we could find in the map; but Capt. King, and Dr Prich- 
ard, have brought them much further. (Cook's 3d Voy. in. 139. Prichard on 
Man, 291.) Dr. Prichard observes, "notwithstanding the distance of the 
Sandwich islands from New Zealand, (above four thousand miles) there are 
many reasons for believing that they derived their population from that 
country, ralher than from any of the clusters of islands which are situated 
more in their vicinity; for in manners the natives in many respects, resem- 
ble the New Zealanders much more than the Otaheitans, or the Friendly 
islanders," (which lie exactly between the Sandwich islands and New Zea- 
land.) 

| Though the distance between the Fidgi and Friendly islands, is the 
least of any we have given, yet, we have the following observation from Dr. 
Prichard, (Hist, of Man, 136,) to shew how very great the difficulties are 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



441 



dred miles. Here they settled and peopled this group, but 
at a future period, a part of their population, with dogs, hogs, 
rats, and poultry, are again carried off by a sudden storm to 
Navigators' islands, a distance of about three hundred miles. 
Here another colony is established, and again other canoes 
are driven off with men, women, hogs, dogs, rats, and chick- 
ens, to the isles of Roggewein, six hundred miles distant: 
from hence a similar stock of men and animals, are once 
more carried off by a westerly storm to the Society islands 
and the neighbouring groups, three hundred miles further: 
from hence a party in like manner, are now blown off north- 
erly to the Marquesas, three hundred miles distant; and a 
second colony, composed according to our present know- 
ledge, of a man and woman, a cock and hen, and the ever ac- 
companying rats, are driven from somewhere or other 
among these groups, to that insulated spot called Easter is- 
land,* distant about fifteen hundred miles; and here the 
race terminates unless they were blown from hence to the 
shores of South America, about two thousand four hundred 
miles distant. 

Such are the details of the theory that supposes men and 
domesticated animals, were driven by storms throughout this 
great ocean, and under this very remarkable supposition, 
that all these storms are supposed to have arisen from the 
west, and to have blown exactly as seamen say in the teeth 
of the trade windslt yet so rare is the interruption of these 

which attend even this comparatively short navigation. "It is curious, that 
though the Friendly isles are separated from the Fegee isles by a very short 
space, no dogs are found in the former. The natives of the Friendly and 
Fegee islands have but recently discovered each other, and are now begin- 
ning to have communication/' 

Capt. Cook though he saw no dogs at the Friendly islands, says they called 
those on board his ships by the same name as the Zealanders did, thus shew- 
ing a knowledge of the animal. 

The Fidgi appeared to Mariner, (page 308,) a race considerably inferior 
to those of the Friendly islands. The preliminary discourse to the missiona- 
ry voyage, (lxx.) says, they are a distinct race and speak a different lan- 
guage. 

* According to the theory, the people of this island ought to be the most 
recent colony established, but Dr. Prichard (Hist. Man, 295,) says, their 
idiom evinces a long separation, and other circumstances shew the great an- 
tiquity of this distant colony." 

Did our work permit, we might shew from the singular monuments exist- 
ing in Easter island, that this people have been in some ancient time vastly 
superior in their institutions and arts, to any other islanders of the Pacific. 
See Cook, and especially La Peyrouse, on their ancient statues and monu- 
ments. 

+ As might be readily supposed, the direction of the currents in this 
ocean, are from the east to the west; thus Vancouver (ii. 219,) says, "the 
direction of the currents is certainly from the American continent, for in this 
manner fir trees have been carried to the Sandwich islands." He also 



442 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



winds, that certain islanders of the Pacific ocean, have even 
no name for the west, or northwest winds; as is the case 
with the inhabitants of the Washington islands. {Langsdorf's 
Voyages, 100.) 

I presume it is needless to urge any thing further on this 
subject. The extraordinary, not to say ridiculous, contingen- 
cies, lucky accidents, &c. that are absolutely necessary to 
support this theory, and the unaccountable prevalence of 
storms directly opposed to the trade winds, must of neces- 
sity consign the hypothesis, at least in its general application 
to perpetual oblivion. 

But in order to do full justice to the hitherto prevailing 
theory, we will, in the words of Capt. Cook, introduce the 
relation of a fact which happened to his own experience, 
upon which the theory has been in great measure founded, 
and which our readers might judge us uncandid did we 
omit its relation. 

When Capt. Cook discovered the island of Whateeo, he 
was accompanied by Omai, a native of one of the Society is- 
lands, who had been carried to England in a former voyage, 
and was now returning to his native island. "Scarcely," 
says Capt. Cook, "had he been landed upon the beach of 
Whateeo, when he found among the crowd there assembled, 
three of his own countrymen, natives of the Society islands, 
who made him the following narrative. About twenty per- 
sons in number, of both sexes, had embarked on board a ca- 
noe at Otaheite to cross over to the neighbouring island 
Ulietea. A violent cross wind arising, they could neither 
reach the latter nor get back to the former. Their intended 
passage being a very short one, their stock of provisions 
was scanty, and soon exhausted. The hardships they suf- 
fered while driven along by the storm they knew not whith- 
er are not to be conceived. They passed many days with- 
out having any thing to eat or drink. Their numbers gra- 

thinks, that Easter island has been supplied in like manner with certain 
large pieces of wood, from which the natives have made, canoes, their own 
island affording no such material. 

It is stated in Maryland's Voyages, ii. 429, as the result of very numerous 
and scientific observations made by that navigator, that there is a general 
motion of the waters of the Pacific ocean from east to west of about 8.4 
miles every twenty-four hours 

Since writing this chapter, I have read Mariner's account of the Tonga or 
Friendly islands, and the manner in which he supposes a communication to 
have originated between the Tonga and Fidgi islands, is precisely opposed 
to the common theory for populating these islands He says, page 417, "in 
all probability the Tonga people being situated to windward, have been drifted 
towards the Fegee islands by stress of weather:" and thus, I presume, any 
one who examines into this subject would reason, and not imagine that stress 
of weather would prevail directly against the constant equatorial'winds. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



443 



dually diminished, worn out by famine and fatigue. Four 
men only survived when the canoe overset, and then the 
perdition of this small remnant seemed inevitable. Howe- 
ver, they kept hanging by the side of their vessel during 
some of the last days, till Providence brought them in sight 
of the people of this island, who immediately sent out ca- 
noes, took them off the wreck, and brought them ashore."* 
(Cook's Voyages, N. Hem. i. 200.) 

To this account Dr. Prichard adds, "an instance perhaps 
still more extraordinary is retated in the Lettres Edijiantes 
et Curieuse, of the arrival of thirty natives of the Pdew 
islands in two canoes, at the isle of Samal, one of the Phil- 
lipines. These people had been driven by storms from their 
island three hundred leagues distant, t and had been at sea 
seventy days." (Prichard on Man, 149.) 

The narrative alluded to by Dr. Prichard is to be found in 
the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuse, vol. xv. 198, 206. 

Thirty-five persons embarked in two canoes to go to a 
neighbouring isle, when a wind so violent arose that they 
could neither gain the island they sought, nor any other, and 
so were carried out to the high seas. In this manner they were 
tossed about by the winds and seas for seventy days, until 
having nearly despaired of touching land they were fortunate- 
ly cast on the island of Samal. They supported life during 
these seventy days in the following manner: They cast into 
the sea a kind of creel or net (nasse) made of small branches 
of trees tied together. This nasse had a large opening at 
one end which terminated in a point at the other, so that fish 
which got in could not escape. The fish caught in this man- 
ner was all the nourishment they had, and they drank no 
other water than that which the rain furnished them. 

We shall take no exception to the facts related in these two 
narrations, further than the distance, which has been correct- 
ed in the note, and simply observe, that in both instances, the 
sudden storms occurred precisely contrary to that point of 
the compass required by the theory for stocking the Pacific 
islands; for Whateeo lies south-west from Otaheite, and Sa- 
mal lies north-west from Peiew. Both parties are repre- 
sented in the greatest extremities from hunger and thirst, and 
in the one instance at least, the majority of persons died from 
that cause; consequently, inevitable death awaited any ani- 
mals that might happen to have been accidentally embarked 
with them: for they would not only have to endure the gen- 

* The distance between Otaheite and Whateeo is about six hundred miles, 
t Instead of three hundred leagues, the distance is about two hundred, 
which makes a considerable difference in the length of the voyage. 



444 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



eral famine of the canoe,* but common sense would suggest 
the necessity of killing them for food; and it would be ridi- 
culous to suppose the savages of the Pacific ocean have great- 
er repugnance to raw flesh than Europeans in similar ca- 
lamitous situations, who have not only eaten animals but even 
their own species. 

Therefore, giving full force to the two facts, and admitting 
that various other instances have occurred under similar cir- 
cumstances, unless writers are prepared to shew how sudden 
storms have so frequently originated in the east, and blown 
westwardly, how hogs, dogs, rats, and chickens, not only en- 
dured a hundred long voyages without food or water, and for 
what reasons men and women who were dying from hunger 
and thirst forebore to devour them for food; they will shew 
nothing more than that man himself might in this manner, 
have been occasionally transported to various islands more 
leeward than their native lands. But this admission explains 
nothing; for the origin of the men and animals of the more 
eastern or windward islands is entirely unsolved, which being 
the essential part of the question must certainly set the whole 
theory aside. 

Neither does the Pacific ocean alone contain this race of 
men which we have called the Otaheitan. If we may trust 
to general resemblance in persons and language, a part of the 
population of Madagascar, on the coast of Africa, distant 3,600 
miles from Sumatra, is of this race also. (Prichard, 219, 
Malte-Brun, book 73.) What carried them thither? Was 
it a storm that impelled their canoes? We should think the 
most zealous theorist would flag here and give up the theory 
as completely insufficient. t 

* Capt. Cook considered the preservation of the people at Whateeo as a 
very wonderful circumstance; and expressly remarks of their canoes: "such 
wretched sea boats as their inhabitants are known to make use of, and fit 
only for a passage where sight of land is scarcely ever lost." This circum- 
stance we have not taken into our estimate of the numerous objections to the 
storm driving theory from the abundance of other facts. 

fin all probability the coasts of western Africa have experienced a similar 
convulsion with that which has taken place in the Pacific ocean With this 
subject we have no concern as elucidating the history of America, but as it 
is in a geological point of view interesting, we have subjoined a few promi- 
nent circumstances in this note. 

The isles of France, Bourbon, and Roderigues, when first discovered were 
without inhabitants, but a few animals of a peculiar kind have been ascer- 
tained to have existed on them, whose origin involves difficulties like those 
of the islands of the Pacific; and which cannot be explained but by the sup- 
position that land once connected them to either Asia or Africa 

That extraordinary bird the Hooded Dodo was formerly found there, which 
heavy clumsy animal is not only incapable of flying and swimming, but even 
walks slowly. It is not certain but there may be three species of it found in 
these islands, but they have never been found in any other part of the globe 
hitherto explored. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



445 



We shall say nothing further respecting the islanders of 
the South sea, thinking it has been sufficiently proved that 
they neither derived their population, except in a very limit- 
ed manner, from the direct voyages of maritime people who 
may have left colonies, nor from accidental storms which have 
driven islanders in canoes from island to island. These the- 
ories being therefore set aside, we have no other alternative 
than to believe, that these islanders, aswe have proved was the 
case with the animals peculiar to New Holland, &c. have been 
saved in the situations where we now find them, when ad- 
joining lands were engulphed into the bosom of the deep. 
By thus proving the destruction of land, at any rate, as far 
from the eastern shores of Asia as to Easter island, there can- 
not be much reason to object against the supposition that other 
lands have been destroyed beyond that remote island, though 
indeed what has been said respecting the Gallapagos islands 
seems direct proof to that point. 

If any objection be suggested against our general theory, 
from the fact that there exists so great a similarity in lan- 
guage, manners, and habits, throughout the Indian and Paci- 
fic ocean; we will observe, that considering the very remote 
period of time at which it is necessary to suppose this great 
destruction of land took place, such should be the case ac- 
cording to the speculations of those who have most studied 
the history of the original dispersion of men. Moses informs 
us, that the children of Ham made their general settlements 
towards Africa, Japhet peopled Europe, and the descendants 
of Shem stretched towards India and China. By this we do 
not understand that they went in a body to those respective 
parts of the globe, but that emigrations were made from each 
patriarchal family in those general directions, though proba- 
bly intermingled among each other in greater or less degree.* 

In these islands also is one, perhaps two species of land tortoise, differing so 
slightly from those of the Gallapagos that we can hardly consider them other 
than a mere variety, and certainly equally incapable of swimming. We can- 
not however deny positively their identity with the Testudo Indica, or that 
man has not brought them to these islands from the continent. If this should 
be done, we will have to rely upon the Dodo alone, for proof of our supposi- 
tion. 

In the island of Madagascar, the following animals are said to be peculiar, 
never having hitherto been found in Africa or Asia. The Makis, Laurence, 
Phisiol. Led. 218,) the Indris, (Prichard on Man, 91,) the Genus Setiger or Ten- 
rec, containing three species {Prichard, 106.) 

* This is certainly the most natural course that men would follow. It does 
not appear that any particular allotment of country was assigned to any par- 
ticular tribes or people; though I consider that the respective descendants of 
Shem, Ham, and Japhet, migrated in general towards some particular points,, 
more or less remote from each other. I subjoin the following authority to 
this opinion 

Hue fuit quod rerum Phoeniciarum vetustus Scriptor Histeus Milesius, 
57 



446 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



Now if the languages of men, as has been generally supposed, 
bore a dialectical resemblance to those of the same patriarchal 
stock, it will follow, that under the circumstances of a des- 
truction of land such as we have supposed, all those that were 
saved in the islands of the Pacific would bear not only a gen- 
eral resemblance to one another, but also to those on the east- 
ern shores of the continent. These analogies in language 
have been discovered in the island of Madagascar, in the In- 
dian isles, and partially on the continent; and how much 
more may be shewn hereafter it is impossible to say. We 
subjoin the following testimonies of learned men to establish 
our general views. 

Sir Wm. Jones observed such traces of the Sanscrit in th& 
languages of the South sea, (Jlsiat. Research, iii. 10,) as to 
justify the opinion that that language was the parent, stock. 
Halhed maintained the same opinion. (Maurice's Ind 
Jlntiq. iv. 414.) 

Dr. Ley den (Asiatic Researches, x. 220,) observes, "many 
unequivocal marks remain in the Indian islands, and in vari- 
ous parts of the Indian continent, declaring a state of man- 
ners to have existed in those countries prior to the introduc- 
tion of more polished and artificial modes of life, which 
closely resemble the rude and barbarous customs of the Pa- 
cific ocean. 

Barrow in his voyage to Cochin China, page 233, makes 
an observation of similar import. 

Capt. King makes the following observation on the natives 
of Prince's island, (straits of Sunda.) "We were exceeding- 
ly struck with the general resemblance of the natives both 
in colour, figure, manners, and even language, to the nations 
we had been so much conversant with in the South seas." 
(Cook's Voy. N. Hem. iii. 474. 

Dr. Francis Buchanan (Asiatic Research, v. 219,) says, 
that to judge from shape, size, and feature, the eastern and 
western Tartars of the Chinese authors, the Calmuc, Chinese, 
Japanese, and other tribes inhabiting the peninsula of India 
beyond the Ganges, and the islands to the south and east of 
this as far as New Guinea, have all the same national origin^ 
which he considers Tartarian. 

Lord Valentia (Trav. ii. 289,) observes, that it is impos- 
sible not to be struck by the resemblance between the Arabs 

postquam eos qui e diluvio cvaserunt venisse dixit in Sennar Babylonia?; ad- 
dit continuo; de esetero inde dispersi propter I inguaram varietatem, habita- 
runt ubivis; et unus quisque terram occupavit in quam incidit. Bochnrt Phaleg r 
page 72. 

This was also the opinion of Bochart And in further proof, we shall short- 
ly exhibit some instances which can only be explained by this opinion. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



447 



df Suakin, {Red Sea, lat. 19°.) and the South sea islanders, 
as drawn in Cook's Vovages. 

We might bring forward many matters of local customs and 
superstitions as additional proof; but this is not deemed ne- 
cessary, as the general resemblance seems sufficiently estab- 
lished by the above quotations. 

Having discussed the history of men and animals of the 
Pacific islands, as far as relates to establishing the fact, that 
land once connected Asia and America together in those lat- 
itudes where nothing now remains but those insulated groups, 
let us look at the geological appearance of these islands, and 
see what additional testimony they offer in support of our 
theory. 

This we can only attempt to do by furnishing the opinions 
of voyagers in this ocean respecting phenomena observed by 
them, or changes considered by them as having probably 
taken place. To such views we shall add a few traditions 
of the natives themselves. 

Volcanic eruptions are supposed {Howard on the Globe,') 
to have destroyed land that existed formerly between the 
Phillipine, Mariane, and Caroline islands; aleo between New 
Guinea, New Holland, the Moluccas, and Maldiva islands. 

Gov. Raffles -concurs in the opinion that volcanic eruptions 
have had great agency in the formation of the Indian islands; 
see his observations on the eruption of Mount Tamboro. 
{Hist. Java, i. 25, note.) 

The Geylonese have a tradition that an irruption of the 
sea separated their island from the peninsula of India, and 
the Malays relate, that Sumatra was separated from Malacca 
by an earthquake. (Marsden's Sumatra* 7, note.) 

The traditions of the natives of Java respecting the disrup- 
tion of land, and formation of islands in these seas, are simi- 
lar to the preceding accounts. {Raffles, Java, ii. 65.) 

"The Ladrones, and clusters of islands between them and 
the southern extremity of China, are so near to each other, 
so broken and irregular, as to appear like fragments disjoint- 
ed from the continent by the violence of mighty torrents, or 
some sudden convulsion of nature." {Staunton's Embas. to 
China, i. 3S7.) 

J. R. Forster divides the islands of the Pacific into high 
and low^ the latter of which he considers to have been form- 
ed by lithophitical animals. Of the high islands, he says, 
they bear the most undeniable marks of violent changes from 
fire and earthquakes, though their present cultivated state 
partly hides the vestiges of these revolutions. He also ob- 
serves, after mentioning eertain well known instances of 



448 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



islands having been raised out of the sea by volcanoes:* "I do 
not imagine that all the high isles were thrown up by fires 
and earthquakes from the bottom of the sea. Many of them 
may have existed before, nay they have perhaps constituted 
greater lands, and were only dismembered by the sinking of 
the intermediate parts; and the traditions of the islanders 
seem to indicate, that the inhabitants themselves have some 
idea of a great revolution which has happened to their isles. 
The natives of the Society isles, pretend their isles were 
produced when O-Maoowe (the God who occasions earth- 
quakes) — {Forster, 540,) dragged a great land from east to 
west through the ocean, which land they imagine to be sit- 
uated to the eastward of their islands: and at that time they 
say, their isles were broken off as little fragments and left 
in the midst of the ocean. The God of earthquakes men- 
tioned above, proves that they some how refer the present 
condition of their isles to a great earthquake as a general 
cause; and the great land they remember, and of which 
their isles are fragments, seems to imply, that they have not 
forgotten that their habitations formerly were parts of a 
great continent destroyed by earthquakes and a violent 
flood, which the dragging of the land through the sea, 
seems to indicate." (Forster's Obs. on a Voyage round, 
&cc. 15S.) 

This tradition is perhaps more directly stated in the Mis- 
sionary Voyage, page 333. "The Otaheitans have a tradi- 
tion, that once in their anger, the great Gods broke the 
whole world into pieces, and that all the islands around them 

*Some writers have conjectured that many islands of this sea have been 
protruded from the ocean by volcanoes, or formed as Forster conjectures by 
lilhophitical insects. But we should consider such formations to be limited 
to a very small extent, as is established by the fact, that there are many 
plants peculiar to these islands. For unless it be shewn that there has been 
a second creation, or spontaneous generation of them on these insulated 
spots, it will follow conclusively, that they have not been protruded from 
the deep since the deluge. 

Had this been the case there could be no trees or herbage on them but 
such whose seeds the birds might be supposed to have brought We have 
already proved men could not have brought them; and the currents and 
general motion of this sea setting on, not off, the Asiatic continent, could 
not have floated them away to these islands. J. R. Forster says that in con- 
sequence of Capt. Cook's voyages, 120 species of plant- were made known 
from New Holland, of which but six were described by Linnaeus; and among 
the tropical isles of the Pacific, 220 new species, (Obsn. on Voy. round, 8fc 
170,) which, however, he considers far short of what might be collected. 

As further proof of the peculiarity of these plants, I subjoin the following 
observations of Sir J. E. Smith. (Trans Lin. Society, ix. 117.) "When the 
plants of New Holland were first examined, they presented, as I have had 
several occasions to remark, so much novelty and singularity to the system- 
atic botanist, that the utmost caution was necessary to fix their genera, and 
even in some instances, their species. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



449 



are but little parts of what was once venoa noe, the great 
land, of which their own island is the eminent part." 

Capt. Cook [Voyage North Hem. ii. 167,) relates the tra- 
dition also expressly as to these facts. 

Sir Joseph Banks says, "from many circumstances it may 
not be unreasonably supposed, that Otaheite and the neigh- 
bouring islands are either shattered remains of a continent, 
which some have supposed to be necessary in this part of the 
globe to preserve an equilibrium of its parts, and which 
were left behind when the rest sunk by the mining of a sub- 
terraneous fire; or were torn from rocks which from the cre- 
ation of the world had been the bottom of the sea, and thrown 
up in heaps to a height that the waters never reach. The 
sea does not gradually grow shallow as the shore is approach- 
ed: the islands are almost every where surrounded by reefs, 
which appear to be rude and broken as some violent convul- 
sion would naturally leave the solid substance of the earth." 

We have confined ourselves to the most particular expres- 
sions of opinion in the selections we have here given. 
Many others of similar tendency might have been added if 
supposed necessary, derived from the volcanic character of 
the islands in this ocean. This is so universally the case, 
that it has been considered sufficiently curious to remark 
that New Caledonia is the only one that does not exhibit 
traces of volcanic fires. But considering that enough of in- 
direct argument has been brought forward, we shall con- 
clude this part of our proof, with a single observation from 
Forster on the plants of these islands, which will shew how 
consistent the appearances of their peculiar features, are with 
the belief of continuous land across this ocean. 

"As the South sea is bounded on one side by America, on 
the other by Asia, the plants which grow in its isles, partly 
resemble those of the two continents, and the nearer they 
are to the one or the other, the more the vegetation partakes 
of their general characters. Thus the easternmost isles, 
contain a greater number of American than of Indian plants; 
and again, as we advance farther to the west, the resem- 
blance with India becomes more strongly discernible." 
(Forster' s Obs. Voy, round the World, 174.) 

From the arguments we have produced of land having ex- 
isted since the deluge between Asia and America, by which 
the latter might be supposed to have received her original 
colonies of men and animals, it may seem unnecessary to 
inquire into the probability of a similar state of things having 
existed in the Atlantic ocean. But as we have met with cer- 
tain relations that countenance this latter supposition, and as 



450 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



it has been already observed in a preceding page, that the 
original history of America is an essential part of the history 
of the globe, we think it proper to exhibit all that we have 
been able to collect upon the probable revolutions of nature 
in this latter ocean. If it be not of absolute importance in 
elucidating the mystery of American population, it will be 
of greater or less value in appreciating geological phenom- 
ena, which at present interest such numbers of philosophical 
and ingenious men. 

The islands of the Atlantic ocean do not furnish us with 
such direct proof of physical revolution, as we have just seen 
in the history of those of the Pacific. In the first place, 
they are but few in number; and in the second, they were 
chiefly discovered by Portuguese or Spanish navigators, 
which I am sorry to add, almost implies they have never 
been scientifically examined or described. Though in all 
probability, no large quadrupeds were originally found 
there, yet it does not follow, that smaller animals did not or 
may not yet exist there, whose peculiar character would 
demonstrate that they had never been imported by the care 
or forethought of man. 

This defect will not, however, materially affect our theory ; 
for islands may have been formed by the wreck of adjoin- 
ing lands, upon which neither men nor animals might live at 
such a time. Still, we are not altogether destitute oven of 
this kind of proof 

In the island of Great Britain it is known that the wolf, 
bear, beaver, urus, and wild boar, were once common though 
now extinct. These animals it is almost impossible to be- 
lieve men transported with them from the continent, and the 
distance across the channel being thirty miles, with a tide 
running four or five miles per hour, precludes the possibility 
of their ever having passed it by swimming. 

On various parts of the British coasts are many geological 
facts and traditions of disruptured land, which in the want 
of more explicit testimony may be adduced as circumstan- 
tial evidence. 

It is very probable, says Mr. Ray, [Buff on, vol. i. 491,) 
that the islands of Great Britain formerly joined to France : 
whether the separation was occasioned by an earthquake, or 
an irruption of the ocean, we know not, but its former junc- 
tion is evident, from the identity of the rocks and different 
strata at the same elevation on their opposite coasts, and 
from the similar extent of the rocks on each side being both 
about six miles. The narrowness of the strait, which is not 
more than twenty -four miles, and its shallowness when com- 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



451 



pared to the depth of the neighbouring sea, render it proba- 
ble that England has been separated from France by some 
accident. He adds further to prove their former union, 
that wolves and bears once existed in England: it is not 
probable that these animals could swim over, nor can we be 
so absurd as to suppose men would transport them; we must 
therefore come to the conclusion, that there has been an 
union between the island and continent which enabled them 
to pass without difficulty.* 

Kirwan, in his work on geology, says, that England and 
Ireland have been separated from each other and the conti- 
nent since the deluge.t 

The islands of Scilly, are believed by many of the English 
geologists and antiquarians, to have been violently sepa- 
rated from Cornwall. (Hist, of Scilly isles, by Heath, 234.) 

The ancient name of these islands of Scilly, was Sorlings, 
which in the old British language signifies, separated from 
the height of the land. [Cyclop, art. Cassiterides.) 

According to a curious historical document contained in 
the British Triads, the island of Anglesea once formed a part 
of England, even since the memory of man. The tradition 
is to the following purport: "The three original islands ad- 
joining to Britain were Orkney, Man, and Wight;:]: and af- 

* There are numerous geological facts which countenance the belief that 
there has been a great destruction of land around Great Britain; see, among 
other instances, the report of the Abbe Correa de Serra, (Philos. Mag. iv. 
287 ) on the subterraneous and submerged forest on the coast of Lincoln- 
shire. 

On the coast of Somersetshire are appearances of a submarine forest, 
which with some considerable interruptions, may be traced about three miles. 
The Edinburgh Review for Nov. 1817, observes, "there is an evident re- 
semblance between this submarine forest and that on the coast of Lincoln- 
shire. We have also observed similar remains on the shore between the 
town of Swansea and the Mumbles point, and similar remains we believe, 
are found in several other places on the coast of Wales and Lancashire. 
The most obvious cause of these phenomena, is the encroachment of the 
sea; but Mr. Horner (author of the work under review,) mentions several 
circumstances which render it not improbable, that in Somersetshire the 
land itself may have subsided." 

fGen. Valancy (Collect. Hib iv. 52,) says, the old Irish relate, "that a 
great part of Ireland was swallowed up by the sea; and that the sunken part 
often rises, and is frequently seen on the horizon from the northern coast. 
In the north-west of Ireland they call a city of this enchanted island Tir 
Hud, or the city of Hud, believing one stands there which once possessed 
all the riches of the world. This is a general tradition with them. This 
island is called 0 Breasil, or 0 Brazil, which signifies royal island." 

J Bakewell, in his work on Geology, page 234, observes, "the position of 
the strata in the isle of Wight, demonstrates that some great convulsion has 
upheaved from their foundations, and overturned the whole mass of Chalkr 
Rocks and the superincumbent strata whicli covers them not less than three 
thousand feet in thickness. At the period when this was effected, it is not 
improbable that England was separated from the continent." 



452 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



tervvards the sea broke the land so that Man (Anglesea) be- 
came an island; and in like manner Orkney was broken, so 
that there were formed a multitude of islands; and other 
places on the coasts of Scotland and Wales were broken by 
the sea and became islands." [Rees' Cyclop, art. Jinglesea.) 

Of the Azores, Madeira, Canary, Cape de Verde islands, 
and St. Helena, we have little or nothing to say. Snakes 
were found in Gomara, one of the Canary islands, and lizards 
throughout the group, [Glas, Canaries, 233, 274.) I know 
not the species of either, but presume no one ever brought 
snakes to an island, while wheat was forgotten or omitted to 
be imported. 

At St. Helena, Capt. Cook found a small snail on the 
highest parts of the island, whose situation there, induced 
him to conjecture the necessity of land having once connect- 
ed this island with Africa. [Hawksworth? s Voy. iii. 432.) 

J. R. Forster remarks, that in examining St. Helena we 
see every where marks of its having undergone a great and 
total change from an earthquake or volcano, which perhaps, 
sunk the greatest part of the island in the ocean. [Obser- 
vations on Voy. round, &c. 155.) This observation is 
confirmed by Marchand, Voy. ii. 192. 

On the American side of the Atlantic, we find few islands 
sufficiently distant from the continent to furnish us with any 
material argument. On Bermuda, at the discovery were 
found numbers of "lizards, many and very large." (I sup- 
pose guanas) [Smith's Hist. Virginia, 172.) The cancer 
ruricola or land crab, was also found here, which as respects 
its habits, must be considered exclusively a land animal. 
(S?nith, 40.) There were no inhabitants originally found at 
this island. 

With the original zoology of the West India islands I am 
also unacquainted, except from the slight information given 
by Edwards. [Hist. West Indies, i. 112.) He enumerates 
the agouti, pecary, armadillo, opossum, raccoon, muskrat, 
alco, and several varieties of monkeys. He however as- 
serts, as a curious fact, which will accord with our theory, 
"that the Carribean or Windward islands possessed all the 
animals found in the larger islands, and some species ivhich 
the latter were without;" these however, he does not de- 
signate.* 

* Edwards also mentions on the authority of Rochefort, that the Caraibs 
held in abhorrence the flesh of the pecary, and therefore they cannot be 
supposed to have imported this animal from the continent. 

De Rochefort (Hist- Antilles, i. 291,) says, there are many snakes of differ- 
ent colours and figures found in the West India islands, some of them nine 
or ten feet in length, &c. In Martinique and St. Alousie, he observes, that 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



453 



Southward of the West Indies, we meet with no other 
islands until we come to the Falkland islands, and Tierra del 
Fuego. Whatever may be peculiar in the animals of the 
latter, science has not yet laid before us: but on the Falkland 
islands, is found a species of dog or wolf, that seems to be 
peculiar to them. This animal has been noticed by several 
navigators touching at this group, of whom are Dom Pernet- 
ty, Bougainville, and Byron. The last furnishes us with 
the following description: "We here saw many animals 
called by the crew wolves, but except in size and shape of 
the tail, more like foxes; they are as big as a middle sized 
mastiff, and their fangs are remarkably long and sharp. They 
burrow in the ground like foxes. It is not easy to guess 
how they first came hither, for these islands are at least three 
hundred miles from the main land." (Byron in Hawks- 
worth, Voy. i. 60.) Bougainville and Dom Pernetty are 
also embarrassed to explain the origin of this animal. The 
latter, however, agrees exactly with our hypothesis, in sup- 
posing these islands to have been once connected to Tierra 
del Fuego and Patagonia by land, which has been since de- 
stroyed. J. R. Forster, the translator and editor of Bou- 
gainville, seems much surprised that so intelligent a naviga- 
tor as his author should be at any loss to explain this matter, 
and gravely suggests that these animals were transported on 
cakes of ice from the continent; for in the same manner we 
have heard of bears being thus drifted about on the coasts 
of Greenland. This indeed is explaining the difficulty by 
a solution that we cannot admit, and whether they are, as is 
most likely, peculiar to these islands or not,* the difficul- 
ties under which they are located, is tantamount to proof 
that land once connected this group to the continent. 

Though our arguments derived from the history of the 
Atlantic islands, may be considered of no very great impor- 
tance, yet they are capable of additional support from some 
traditions that report the destruction of land to a very great 
extent in the Atlantic ocean. This relation is well known 
to general readers, and which though maintained by many 

there are certain serpents which are poisonous, which was not the case with 
other islands. If this be correct, it is decidedly in our favour; for no one 
would be insane enough to import poisonous animals. 

When the West India islands were first discovered, the natives certainly 
held some tradition concerning the disrupture of their islands from each 
other. Thus Peter Martyr (Hackluyt, West ladies, 250,) says of the Lucayos 
islands: "our men suppose by conjecture, that the Lucayos were sometimes 
joined to the rest of the great islands. (Cuba, Haiti, &c.) And that their 
ancestors thought so, the Indians themselves plainly confess." 

* Prichard, Hist Man, 140, seems to consider them peculiar to these is- 
lands; but Molina (Hisf. Chili, i. 206,) says they are the same with the cidpev 
of Chili, 

58 



454 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



learned men, has been rejected as an improbable legend by 
many others. If we received it as an isolated fact, there is 
not much to be said in its favour; but considering it as we 
do in connexion with other phenomena of a similar nature, 
we see nothing in it but what is generally conformable to 
events that have happened in other parts of the globe, and 
even to a greater extent in the Pacific ocean. We do not 
indeed contend for all the particulars related by the Egyp- 
tian priests concerning the island Atalantis, of its wealth, or 
its power, but simply for the fact, that land of great extent 
has been destroyed in that quarter of the globe, the remem- 
brance of which has been preserved with more or less exagge- 
ration. Men we are convinced never compose traditions or 
histories without having some foundation for them. But 
not to insist further on this subject, we will only regard it 
as collateral testimony throwing whatever weight it may 
possess in our favour. The tradition is related by Plato in 
his Timeus as having been imparted by an Egyptian priest 
to Solon, who when a young man visited that country. The 
story as related by Plato is as follows: 

"You Greeks, says the Egyptian, are ever children; an air 
of youth is visible in all your histories and traditions; your 
country, from its situation, is forever exposed to those inun- 
dations which sweep away the generations of men, and leave 
no traces of the past. The lofty mountain of the Thebais of 
Egypt, affords its inhabitants a more secure asylum, and in 
its temples are deposited the records of ages, and nations 
long buried in oblivion. There have been innumerable de= 
luges and conflagrations of the superficial regions of the 
globe. Your fable of Phseton setting the world on fire, is 
founded on some mutilated tradition of one of those grand 
catastrophes, in which terrestrial things have perished by 
the devastation of the igneous element. Your histories, I 
know, mention only one deluge; but there have been various 
and successive deluges prior to that mighty one recorded of 
Deucalion and Pyrrha. There existed an ancient and cele- 
brated people in Greece, the wisdom of whose laws, and 
fame of whose valour, are renowned in the sacred writings and 
ancient annals of Egypt. This heroic race were as highly 
celebrated for their exploits by sea as by land, as was evi- 
dent in their arduous contests with the mighty nation who 
formerly inhabited the vast island Atalantis, now buried in 
the ocean which bears its name. This island was situated 
near the straits of Gades, and it exceeded in magnitude all 
Europe and Asia joined together. It was so called from 
Atlas, the son of Neptune, whose descendants reigned there 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



455 



in an hereditary line during a period of nine thousand years; 
and extended their sway over all the adjoining regions: for 
there was an easy passage from this island to the neighbour- 
ing islands and continents; and their armies passing over 
into Europe and Africa, subdued all Lybia to the borders of 
Egypt, and all Europe to Asia Minor. In succeeding ages, 
owing to prodigious earthquakes and inundations, in the 
space of one day and night, all that part of Greece which 
your ancestors inhabited was desolated and submerged, and 
the Atlantic island itself, being suddenly absorbed into the 
bosom of the ocean, entirely disappeared,* and for many 
ages afterwards, that sea could not be navigated, owing to 
the numerous rocks and shelves with which it abounded." 

As a proof of the existence of this island, or country Ata- 
lantis, Mr. Taylor, who has translated the works of Plato, 
gives the following relation of one Marcellus, who wrote a 
history of Ethiopic affairs, according to Proclus, in Tim. p. 
55. 

"That such and so great an island once existed, is evinced 
by those who have composed histories of things relative to 
the external sea; for they relate that in their times there 
were seven islands in the Atlantic sacred to Proserpine: and 
besides these, three others of an immense magnitude, one of 
which was sacred to Pluto, another to Ammon, and another, 
which is the middle of these, and is of a thousand stadia, to 
Neptune; and besides this, that the inhabitants of this last 
island preserved the memory of the prodigious magnitude of 
the Atlantic island, as related by their ancestors, and of its 
governing for many periods all the islands in the Atlantic 
sea." (Bees' Cyclop, art. Jltlantis.) 

The speculations of Ray, Whitehurst, BufFon, Kirwan, and 
Pennant, upon the subject of the island Atalantis, are all in 
favour of its former existence, and the arguments they pro- 
duce from the present appearance of the Azores, Canaries,! 
&c. are as plausible as can be expected when the great anti- 
quity of the subject is considered. If to their considera- 
tions our few proofs be added, it may not be presumptuous 
to think the tradition almost well established. 

We have now brought to a conclusion whatever seemed 

* It is a very curious circumstance that the Hindoos describe an ancient 
region called Jltala, which they assert was destroyed by earthquakes. 
(Jlsiat. Research, iii. 300, viii. 375.) Bailly, in his letters to Voltaire, 
(i. 122, transl.) says, the Chinese have a tradition of an island submerged in 
the ocean. 

t The presence of volcanoes, either burning or extinct, in every island in 
the Atlantic ocean, may be considered as no slight argument in its favour. 
Id the Azores alone, there are upwards of forty extinct or active volcanoes. 



456 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



to bear directly on our theory which supposes land to have 
been destroyed, that once in a greater or less degree ex- 
tended throughout the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We have 
yet an incidental subject to introduce having seemingly a 
reference to such an event, which, however, is not so clear 
but that it requires some comment and analysis to establish 
its proper importance. If our conjectures are right in this 
matter, we shall be enabled to affix with some precision the 
era of those mighty cataclysms to which we have so frequent- 
ly alluded in the preceding pages. 

We are of opinion, that the time at which this great phy- 
sical revolution was chiefly effected, is not indirectly alluded 
to in Genesis, chap. x. v. 25. "He was called Peleg, {di- 
vision) for in his days was the earth divided. " There has 
been among biblical commentators some discussion on the 
actual meaning of this passage, though most generally it has 
been assumed to mean a political division of the earth into 
kingdoms, or even into individual possessions of that soil, 
which had previously been considered the common property 
of the human race. But as the etymology of the words em- 
ployed will equally imply a physical division of the earth's 
surface, this signification was also noticed by critics though 
they generally assigned to it the first meaning. As we have 
shewn from previous discussion, that some great physical 
revolution of our globe has happened in ages anterior to his- 
tory, we shall now lay before our readers the evidence that 
induces us to believe that the brief notice of Peleg on the 
sacred page, has direct relation to those physical changes 
which have formed the basis of our theory concerning the 
peopling of America. 

It has also been assumed, that the confusion at Babel was 
synchronical with the division of the earth mentioned in the 
history of Peleg; or in other words, that the immediate con- 
sequence of the confusion of language, was the separation of 
human society into distinct nations, which it is supposed is 
expressed by the relation concerning Peleg: "In his days, 
was the earth divided," i. e. the earth was divided among 
nations and distinct political governments. 

This mistake has been pretty clearly demonstrated by the 
very learned Bryant in his Analysis of Ancient Mythology, 
and whose arguments we shall make use of as far as they go 
to establish that point. But in his explanation of the "di- 
vision" in Peleg's days we cannot concur. 

To shew the difference between the event said to have 
happened in Peleg's days, and that of the confusion at Babel, 
he quotes from Genesis, chap. 10. v. 25; "And unto Heber 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



457 



were born two sons, the name of one was Peleg, (i, e. di- 
vision) for in his days was the earth divided." From this 
verse to the 32d, is an enumeration of patriarchs according 
to their various descents, when it is finally said: "These are 
the families of the sons of Noah after their generations, in 
their nations; and by these were the nations divided in the 
earth after the flood. " Upon these verses Bryant remarks 
that the division of the 32d verse is said not to have hap- 
pened after the building of the tower, or confusion of speech, 
but after the flood: but in the history of the confusion, it is 
said, the Lord scattered them abroad from hence, i. e. from 
the city and tower, did the Lord scatter them abroad. 

But the most evident distinction, it occurs to us, is found 
in the sense of the particular words employed. In "Peleg' s 
days, 7 ' the earth is said to be divided; in the history of the 
confusion, it is the people who were scattered; impliedly 
two different relations, the one concerning the earth, the 
other relating to human beings. As there is certainly an 
ambiguity in our translation, if not in the original Hebrew, 
the only possible way of attaining the sense in which the 
words in question are to be understood, is to refer to that 
ancient language for information how they are employed in 
other parts of the scriptures. As my knowledge of the 
Hebrew language is extremely limited, I can offer no emen- 
dations, but shall simply extract the words from the Bible or 
from Lexicons, which if they contain any speculations upon 
the etymology, will be found to lean towards the more usual 
manner of explaining the words in question. Our attempt 
is to ascertain the sense and import of the different para- 
graphs in which the word is used. 

The word ^id? (Peleg) is used in several parts of the Bi- 
ble besides the verse in question and its parallel passages. 
It occurs in Job, 38, 25, "who hath divided (palag) a water- 
course for the overflowing of waters." Psalms, 55, 10, 
"destroy 0 Lord and divide (palag) their tongues;" this 
Parkhurst translates, divide, dissever. The Targums have 
interpreted the words ^rQH of Gen. 15, 10, in which Abra- 
ham divided his sacrifices into two parts, by according 
to Schindler, Lex. Pent, which agrees with Parkhurst as 
above. 

As a noun, it signifies a distribution of water, a stream by 
which water is distributed, Job, 20, 17, a brook; Psalm, 65, 
10, rivers of water, Ps. 1, 3d, 119, 136. Parkhurst thinks 
the Greek tsXcvyos, the sea, which also signifies a large river, 
and the Latin pelagus, are thus derived. 



458 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



Whether this etymology will fully justify our supposition 
of its reference to a physical division of the earth, or not, 
we leave to the reader's judgment, who we beg will remem- 
ber the singular connexion it has with rivers, streams, wa- 
ters, &c. which in nowise seem to have any connexion with 
political distributions of mankind. And further we think 

we can clearly shew that the word Jl^iD palag, is never 
used to signify any locating or apportioning of men to dif- 
ferent parts of the earth, either universally or partially. 

Thus in Genesis, x. 32, "the nations divided in the earth 
after the flood," is expressed by 1*1*1 £1 nepharadu.* In 
Joshua, xviii. 10, "he divided the land unto the children of 

Israelis p^lTI vauyechaulek. In Numbers, xxxiv. 17, 

"who shall divide to you the land," is expressed by iSfiy 

yenechalu. But perhaps, in no place could jl*"" ?£) palag 
have been used with more propriety were it susceptible of 
the signification usually given, than in Deut. xxxii. S. When 

the Most High divided (Si-urn behaunechal) to the nations 
their inheritance, when he separated (n^DHD behauphe- 
ray do,) the sons of Adam," &c. 

The etymological signification of the division of the earth 
in Peleg's days, is therefore in favour of a physical division,! 
and certainly cannot be so well applied to a division of men 
into various nations, or a distribution of countries among 
them. In all probability it refers to the great cataclysms 
that we have attempted to demonstrate in our preceding 
pages, and an additional light seems to be thrown on this 
chronological assumption by the following traditional his- 
tories. 

Du Halde relates, that the Chinese annals give an account 
of a great inundation that happened in the reign of Yao, 
which he computes was about 2357 years B. C. 

In the Hindu records, it is observed, that the fourth Menu, 
Ta-masa, derived his name from the universal darkness^ at- 

* As this verse, is only seven verses distant from the one commemorating 

Peleg, and is the sum of the whole chapter; if Jt^*} signified merely a po- 
litical division, the same word should have been used in the 32d verse, 
which evidently relates to a political or natural apportionment of mankind. 

f Dr. Adam Clarke is of opinion this is the most probable explanation. 
Mr. P. Howard, author of some ingenious and learned observations on the 
globe, considers some important physical revolution took place in the early 
postdiluvian ages, from perceiving the sudden decrement of life in the ages 
of the patriarchs after Heber, which it is singular is that of Peleg, to whose 
time therefore he refers such changes. (Howard on the Globe. 547.) 

X This story of an universal darkness does not invalidate the tradition, 
We have authentic accounts of many similar phenomena, which appear to 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



459 



tending a flood that happened in his time, which is calculated 
to have been 2456 years B. C. (Jisiat. Res. viii. 228.) Now, 
both of these events will fall within the period of Peleg's 
life, for he was born 2639 years B. C. and lived 339 years 
according to the Septuagint, whose chronology we have al- 
ways adopted. 

The Arab traditions seem also to countenance some such 
event in their legends of Salah and Houd, (Heber) the 
cotemporaries of Peleg. (See Her boilers, Bib. Orient.) 

The name of the patriarch Selah has a signification which 
certain critics, assuredly unconnected with our theoretical 
views, have explained in a manner so consistent with our 
opinions that we are induced to lay it before our readers. 

Bochart observes (Salah) Hebrais emissionem signi- 

ficat nempe aquarum super terram, ut Job, v. 10, emittit 
aquas super faciem agrorum. Itaque pater pius Arphaxad, 
qui natus erat biennio post diluvium Gen. xi. 10, primogenito 
suo videtur hoc nomen indidisse, ut tarn horrendi judicii 
memoriam refricaret apud posteros. Ita Enoch propheta 
sumus cum prophetico spiritu prsevidisset cladem illam filii 
mortem statim subseculuram, vocavit ilium Methusela. Quo 
nomine significabat statim illo mortuo futuram emissionem 
sive aquarum inundationem in perniciem mundi totius. 
(Bochart's Phaleg, chap. xiii. lib. 2.) 

Bochart is not the only one who has given this explana= 
tion to the name of Methuselah; Bishop Watson observes, 
(see his Tracts, &c. i. 73,) "It is the ingenious conjecture 
of Ainsworth, that Methuselah is a word compounded of two 
Hebrew words, Muth and Shalac; one signifying he dieth, 
and the other and an emission, as much as to say when he 
dieth, there shall be an emission or inundation of wa- 
ters."* 

If these explanations are correct, we may certainly apply 
nearly the same reasoning to Salah, (who was cotemporary 
with Peleg) and with this modification; that in Salah's case 
the emission of waters was not attended with a destruc- 
tion of all mankind; as was in the case of Methuselah. 

be of an electric nature. See Philosophic Magazine, vol. iv. 417. v. 83. 
The dry fog of 1783, which spread over the known parts of the globe, and 
which continued during two entire months, was of this kind. {Ordinaire on 
Volcanoes, page 131.) 

The deluge of Ogyges was attended with a great darkness; and very likely 
belongs to this same period. In choosing the chronology of this event, I 
prefer that given by "Varro the most learned of the Romans," who states it 
to have been 2000 years before the Consulship of Hirtius; which was about 
43 years before Christ, (See Mad, des Inscriptions, xxxviii. 231.) 

* Calmet, Lightfoot, and Dr> Adam Clarke, concur in this explanation. 



460 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



We trust we have now shewn that the event related in 
connexion with Peleg's history, is to be entirely separated 
from the history of the confusion of Babel; but we are at 
some loss to fix the period of his lifetime to which we may 
refer this physical catastrophe, and as Moses only states, 
that the event happened in his days, there is some latitude 
for conjecture. From the general expression, we should 
presume, it was at a time when he was more or less advanced 
in years, and not at his birth. We therefore feel inclined 
to place the catastrophe in the latter years of his life, which 
from various considerations will better agree with the histo- 
ry of the postdiluvian ages, than if we place it at an earlier 
epoch. We shall therefore assume the following chrono- 
logy, according to the Septuagint. (See Jackson, Chron. 
Jlntiq.) 
B. C. 

3170 The Deluge. [Babel. 
2639 Birth of Peleg; about the time of the dispersion from 
2300 Death of Peleg; shortly after the physical division 

of the earth, according to our hypothesis. 
209S Birth of Abraham, &c. 

It will be seen by comparing these chronological epocha 
with each other, that from the time of the deluge until the 
cataclysm of Peleg, above eight hundred years had elapsed; 
certainly a sufficient time for the wild animals, who had been 
released from the ark, to have spread themselves over the 
earth unto every situation congenial to their instincts.* 

From the deluge until the dispersion from Babel, or above 
five hundred years, mankind had lived together, speaking 
the same language, and using the same arts, sciences, and 
customs. By this fact we can easily explain the identity of 
system that prevails among nations since that period the 
most widely separated; though we cannot perceive in many 
instances the least traces of international communications. 

From the time of the dispersion at Babel until the time of 
Peleg, whose days we have assumed as the era of a vast al- 
teration of the superficies of the earth, above three hundred 
years had elapsed, allowing sufficient time for men to have 
reached the most distant parts of the habitable globe. 

* As persons sometimes lay hold of very insignificant matters, to oppose 
conclusions derived from numerous facts and weighty arguments, I have 
thought it not amiss to state in a note, that the time allowed in our text for 
the emigration of animals to all parts of the earth, is also abundantly suffix 
cient to have enabled the Sloth to reach America. Pennant (Hist. Quad. ii. 
495,) informs us this slow moving animal can travel a quarter of a league per 
day. If we suppose it to have progressed but one third of Ihe distance stated, 
the time we have allowed is amply sufficient. 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



461 



We desire the reader should expressly understand that we 
do not assert that these mighty revolutions took place in a 
day or year. Centuries may have passed away during the 
accomplishment of these stupendous changes. All we con- 
tend for, as far as any particular chronology is concerned, is 
that it was particularly remarkable or may have first com- 
menced in Peleg's days. 

This view of early postdiluvian history regulated by our 
physical hypothesis, explains in a perfectly consistent man- 
ner every peculiarity of American history, and that not par- 
tially, but in perfect accordance with both the physical and 
moral history of the eastern continent. The magnitude of 
the cataclysm itself, may deter some from a ready assent to 
the truth of our theory, yet great and mighty as the con- 
vulsion may seem, it appears to me perfectly demonstrable 
by the various arguments we have used in our researches up- 
on the men and animals of the Pacific ocean. And to all 
persons who admit the truth of the scripture history concern- 
ing the origin of animals from the ark, the same mighty con- 
vulsion is evidently demonstrated by the utter impossibility 
to explain otherwise the history of the numerous land ani- 
mals of America; whom we have every reason to believe are, 
with a most inconsiderable exception, exclusively peculiar 
to this continent. 



We have now gone through an investigation of the more 
prominent and interesting particulars of the history of abori- 
ginal America, whether physical or moral; and as far as our 
information extended, we have discussed every curious and 
important circumstance connected with the subject of our re- 
searches. 

We apprehend, that the result of our whole investigation 
has tended to establish the fact that there must have been a 
time since the deluge, when the surface of the earth was so 
different from its present appearance, as to have permitted 
both men and animals to locate themselves in all the various 
parts of the globe where we now find them, and without any 
material physical impediments. 

As this state of things could have existed only in the earli- 
er postdiluvian ages, we cannot be far wrong in assuming 
the chronology of the cataclysm, which destroyed the ancient 
communications between the two continents, to have been 
about three hundred years after the dispersion from Babel; 
and which is apparently confirmed by the singular though 
brief observation of the scriptures concerning Peleg. 
5.9 



462 



ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN 



With the preceding physical statement it will be found 
that the moral history of the aborigines of America is entire- 
ly accordant. 

In comparing the barbarian nations of America with those 
of the eastern continent, we perceive no points of resemblance 
between them, in their moral institutions or in their habits, 
that are not apparently founded in the necessities of human 
life. In their languages nothing but the feeblest analogies to 
each other are to be observed. In personal appearance, they 
are, perhaps, identically the same. Thus testifying, that 
though they are the same race of men, yet they have been 
separated from each other from the earliest periods of time. 
I trust it has been fairly shewn that it is impossible they 
could have crossed the Pacific ocean as it now exists. 

We perceive in the history of the demi-civilized nations 
of America, that they have preserved no remembrance of any 
emigration from the eastern continent. Their languages, in- 
stitutions, and habits, are entirely different from those of any 
other people either Asiatic or European, with whom we have 
been enabled to compare them. But there is between the 
demi-civilized nations of America and various ancient nations 
of the eastern continent, many analogies in matters of an ab- 
stract nature which undoubtedly shews original connexion. 
That the interruption of their mutual communications has ta- 
ken place in periods of the greatest antiquity seems indispu- 
table, for the points in which they most closely agree, are 
those that belong to the earliest postdiluvian history, and 
which indeed, appear to have been originally the common 
property of all mankind prior to the dispersion from Babel. 
Of that memorable event, certain American nations have pre- 
served a remembrance in their historical traditions; but from 
that period of time, we have not been able to perceive any 
matters of history common to the two continents. Since that 
epoch, the history of America, unknown, and unknowing of 
the eastern continent, is overhung with clouds of the thickest 
darkness, which so entirely obscure the subject that we can- 
not even conjecture one single particular concerning the trans- 
actions of ages. Every thing is overwhelmed in the gloom 
of unrecorded time. 

We have been unable to discern any traces of Asiatic or of 
European civilization in America prior to the discovery of 
Columbus. If individuals of those parts of the earth reached 
this continent, which may not be altogether impossible, they 
but mingled and were lost in an aboriginal population with- 
out leaving a trace behind. 

Yet certainly the three great and distinct complexions of 



AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA. 



463 



white, brown, and black men, are found among the aborigi- 
nal population of America, which we cannot persuade our- 
selves have originated in this continent from any one origi- 
nal type, however much physical and moral causes may be 
suggested or multiplied.* 

Considering, therefore, that nothing indicating a more re- 
cent origin of the American Indians has ever been even plau- 
sibly supported, I cannot but hold the most natural explana- 
tion of the fact to be, that they reached America at those pe- 
riods of time when the surface of the earth allowed a free 
transit for quadrupeds. These last, have certainly located 
themselves in the various regions of the earth under a sys- 
tem of limited peculiar situations, whose happy proportions, 
both geographically and numerically considered, distinctly 
implies the full exercise of unrestrained instinct. 

By this early origin we can not only explain why there 
are so few analogies in languages and institutions between 
the two continents, except those of the very greatest anti- 
quity, but we also can plausibly conjecture the reason why the 
Americans should be deficient in horses, sheep, and oxen, as 
well as certain vegetable substances that have been cultiva- 
ted in Asia from the earlist times of history. Perhaps it may 
be necessary for us to explain our views upon this subject 
more distinctly. The reader will remember, that we have 
supposed the domestic quadrupeds from the time of the de- 
luge have ever been in servitude to man. As the human fam- 
ily increased in numbers, these animals constituted their 
wealth, and under those circumstances that have always cha- 
racterised human societies; namely, that certain individuals 
will be rich while the majority are comparatively poor. Af- 
ter the dispersion, the more wealthy societies of men, encum- 
bered by their herds, would make little progress in the march 
of emigration compared with those who had few or none. 
This class of persons would soon be in advance of all others, 
in hastening to occupy the more favourable situations in the 

* It may not, perhaps, be impossible to trace the route of the blacks found in 
America, and especially those of our North West Coast. A similar race of 
men is found in India, Laos, and Cochin China. (Malte-Brun, Geog. lib. 51.) 
They have been observed in the mountains of the Malay peninsula, (Jls. Res. 
x. 217,) in the Phillipine islands, &c. Malte-Brun (Geog. lib. 43,) says, they 
were found in the island of Formosa when first discovered; and Kaempher 
relates they had reached to the north of Japan. He informs us, (Hist. Japan, 
i. 93,) when the Japanese discovered the island Genkaisima, situated to the 
north of Japan, they found it inhabited by blacks with long hair, whom they 
destroyed in war. As no physiological theory can explain their complexion 
by natural causes, and as I cannot conceive that they have been spread to the 
immense distances where we now find them, by any voluntary navigation, I 
presume they existed in their present complexion at the time of the cata- 
clysm of Peleg. Will it therefore appear an unlikely supposition, that some 
of the same race had previously reached America, to which continent, in- 
deed, we can trace a sensible approximation of them from the westward. 



464 MANNER IN WHICH MEN, &C. REACHED AMERICA, 

remoter parts of the earth. Such emigrants would therefore 
be the first to reach our present country, and the few domes- 
tic animals which they originally may have possessed, in 
having to undergo hasty journeys, exposure and privation of 
every kind, and perhaps even required for food by their own- 
ers, will leave the chances nowise improbable that none would 
endure to the end of the great journey they would have to 
perform before they could reach America. 

As far as I am competent to judge, every circumstance of 
the aboriginal history of America, whether physical or moral, 
is either directly proved, or plausibly established by the the- 
ory we have maintained. Even matters the most perplexed 
in their relations to each other, seem to find a solution in the 
various necessary contingencies through which our hypothe- 
sis has been discussed. Of these subjects, none have been, 
according to our opinion, more plausibly investigated than 
the almost paradoxical statement, that though there are nu- 
merous analogies existing between the moral and social in- 
stitutions of the Americans and the earlier nations of Asia 
and Africa, yet there is nothing that points out any national 
communication. 

The truth of the matter is no doubt as follows: After the 
dispersion from Babel, mankind were scattered over the face 
of the earth, carrying with them in greater or less perfection 
the superstitions, sciences, and practices, which previously 
had pertained to the whole human family then living as a 
single nation in the plain of Shinar. The founders of every 
incipient kingdom, commenced upon those common and uni- 
versal principles to erect each a moral structure according to 
their peculiar advantages or disadvantages, which though each 
may have been perfected by their succeeding posterity in a 
different manner, yet they all manifestly show by peculiari- 
ties of construction, that the original plan was derived from 
that common country which has supplied the whole earth 
with inhabitants. 

Though we intend to investigate certain particulars con- 
nected with the aboriginal history of America in the ensuing 
chapter, it will only be for the purpose of strengthening po- 
sitions already taken or of enlarging upon insulated matters 
deemed interesting and important in the general history of 
man. At the time these subjects came under our considera- 
tion we could not then with propriety extend our views. 
The time, however, has arrived to close the investigations up- 
on the proper subject of our essay, and we now shall there- 
fore pass on to the discussion of certain subjects, whose im- 
portance and bearing we could not previously exhibit to our 
readers. 



APPENDIX I. 



ON THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER OF THE AGES 
PRECEDING THE DISPERSION FROM BABEL. 

In the course of our preceding investigation, we have taken notice of 
several curious and important subjects of an abstract nature, which being 
equally discernible in the ancient institutions of the civilized or demi-ci- 
vilized nations of either continent, seem thereby to testify, that such sys- 
tems or such superstitions had been established among the posterity of 
Noah before their dispersion from the plain of Shinar. 

As some of these very ancient analogies between the people of the two 
continents, imply a state of society to have existed in the first postdilu- 
vian ages very different from that which has been generally presumed to 
have been the case, it is not only a matter of great interest to have some 
defined views concerning the early history of our race, but it is in a man- 
ner necessary for the better understanding the origin of the ancient insti- 
tutions and superstitions of some of the demi-civilized people of aborigi- 
nal America. These subjects we have passed over with little comment 
in the preceding pages, as some prefatory statement and discussion was 
necessary to fairly comprehend their importance, which would then have 
interrupted the chain of our reasoning and diverted the mind from the na- 
tural course of the argument. 

We have now a favourable though brief opportunity to consider in great- 
er detail some of those subjects which previously we could but mention 
in a slight manner. They are, as we apprehend, of the greatest impor- 
tance in understanding the early history of our Species. 

Except in the incidental notices of the Bible, from the times of the de- 
luge to that of Herodotus, B. C. 450, a space of about three thousand 
years, we have not the writings of a single historian to whom we can re- 
fer for the transactions of these unknown ages. It is true, that during 
the intellectual ascendancy of Greece and Rome, some of their historians 
attempted to recover the preceding history of the more celebrated nations 
of antiquity, and some of their writings have been preserved to our time, 
exhibiting a mingled mass of mythology, allegory, and perverted history, 
entangled with fragments of physical and metaphysical science. 

After a long and painful investigation of these imperfect records of the 
remotest periods of time, successive antiquarians and philosophers 
have been able to reduce the collections of the Greeks and Romans into 
something like systematic regularity, the only proof of whose correctness 
is to be sought in the natural concordance of these diversified materials 
when compared among themselves. 

In this manner, however imperfect it may be, we are enabled partially 
to raise the veil of time that hangs over the early history of man, and then 
looking back as far as our sight can reach we perceive amid the gloom of 
the remotest antiquity, the kingdoms of Chaldea, Persia, Egypt, Phoeni- 
cia, and Hindustan, standing remote from" each other, and existing in such 
states of society, that we cannot doubt they had been for a long time in 
the possession of arts, sciences, and religious establishments, whose gen- 



466 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



eral features manifest great acuteness and subtlety in their physical or 
metaphysical composition, shewing undoubtedly, that though their more 
ancient history has perished, that the restless mind of man during the pre- 
ceding ages had been ingeniously and laboriously employed upon those 
objects intellectual or physical, with which we are on every side sur- 
rounded. 

It is upon these matters of an abstract and intellectual character, that 
we are about to direct our investigation, the object of which is to ascer- 
tain if possible, what was the degree of intellectual light enjoyed by the 
early postdiluvian nations, and from what source it was derived. 

If the sciences of these ancient kingdoms of Asia and Africa, had when 
we first observe them, shewn marks of rude construction, or had they ex- 
hibited a variety of different principles of composition, it might have been 
supposed from our want of historic testimony, that the different nations of 
antiquity had by their individual research and ingenuity brought these 
subjects to the systems into which we find them thrown. But when we 
find this not to be the case, that they are not only remarkable for the ac- 
curacy of their scientific attainments, and for the acuteness of their phy- 
sical and religious systems, and when we find them bearing undoubted 
marks of having been derived from some one original and common sys- 
tem, we are excited to the highest degree of interest to explain these sin- 
gular circumstances; and to ascertain if possible, the still more ancient and 
original state of things, which is thus perceived to have been the intellec- 
tual and moral foundation of all the social institutions of all the earlier 
civilized people of the earth. 

That a surprising conformity in arts, sciences, religious dogmas, and in- 
stitutions, exists among the more celebrated nations of antiquity there can 
be no doubt. It has been admitted by all the learned writers of the last 
several centuries, however much they may differ among themselves in 
their theories of explanation. The astonishing research made of late 
years by European literati in Hindustan and China, have greatly extend- 
ed the field of comparison; for they have demonstrated the identity of 
systems in those countries with those of Chaldea and Egypt. The re- 
searches of Humboldt and others have shewn that America also has par- 
ticipated in the general system; and the fact is undoubted, that some one 
ancient state of things has influenced the intellectual institutions"of the 
whole human race. 

Our present inquiry, however, is not made to investigate the general 
subject. The undertaking is too vast to be even sketched in a chapter 
but supplementary to our previous investigation. Those who require to 
be convinced of the truth of our declaration, must examine the writings of 
Bochart, Bryant, Gale, Bailly, Faber, and numerous others, who have either 
directly or indirectly discussed this subj ect. We must in this place consider 
the fact to be established, of which indeed we have, as far as the nature of 
our previous essay permitted, already exhibited some important verifica- 
tion. 

Believing then the identity of system that prevails among the more ci- 
vilized nations of either continent, to be an established fact, it would ap- 
pear to us to follow almost conclusively, that the only explanation natural- 
ly applicable to such an extensive identity, is to be found in the belief, that 
the ground work of all human intellectual establishment was laid in those 
ages preceding the dispersion from Babel; and that when mankind were 
thence dispersed, they carried systems and ideas, of common origin, to the 
most widely separated parts of the earth. 

When we consider the very remote period of time to which we can car- 
ry back our investigations, and then find among nations widely distant 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 467 



from each other striking analogies in religious views and practices, such 
absolutely perfect knowledge of astronomy and practical geometry, high- 
ly finished, if not perfect systems of musical theory, it is seemingly incred- 
ible that these sciences, attained only by long and painful research, have 
been the invention of any people since the dispersion, who after having 
perfected their systems then communicated them to the rest of the world. 
Such a supposition is attended with impossible circumstances; for the pow- 
ers and progress of the human mind can be reasonable estimated, and the 
time necessary to have perfected such abstruse and difficult sciences, and 
then to communicate them to all the different civilized nations of the earth, 
would bring the fact, if it were true, within the times of written history; 
which, on the contrary, refers all these matters back to periods of unknown 
or fabulous antiquity. Though evidently, the natural and rational expla- 
nation of the above facts, would in the very statement point out the es- 
tablishment of such sciences prior to the dispersion, yet the general pre- 
judice against considering this period of time to have been eminent for in- 
tellectual acquirements is so great that we must attempt to establish our 
views by some detailed arguments. 

Of all the scientific attainments of ancient time, none is more impor- 
tant to our present investigation than the subject of astronomy; which 
we shall attempt to use as establishing the points for which we have con- 
tended in our preceding paragraph. 

Though we have sufficient proofs to establish our doctrine in the learn- 
ed writings of Bailly, Playfair, and others, yet as we think it an impor- 
tant matter to multiply proofs, we shall use some argument derived from 
our own reading, which it appears to us has not been hitherto brought be- 
fore the public. 

If the reader remembers our observations (page 218) upon the fa- 
mous cycle of six hundred years, which we have there considered of 
antediluvian origin, he will perceive that with the plausible conjectures 
we have been enabled to make upon that cycle, there can be no room to 
doubt, that it was founded upon an almost exict knowledge of the length 
of the tropical year. We shall not repeat our observations, nor shall we 
at present consider it with Josephus, Cassini, tnd Bailly, to have been of 
antediluvian origin, until we can with a direct plausibility refer it to that 
period of time. I think, there are circumstances of ancient chronology 
that will enable us to bring this matter by fair induction to such an era. 

I cannot doubt, that the famous Yugs of the Hindus have been con- 
structed upon this cycle of six hundred years, which I trust the following 
view will render sufficiently apparent. 

According to the best authority, As. Res. xii. 251, there are two modes 
of exhibiting the Yugas of the Hindus, which the learned author, there 
distinguishes, though I apprehend incorrectly, by the appellations of as- 
tronomic and poetical Yugs. But as it is important that a distinction 
should be made between them, let us retain these terms. 

The scheme of the Yugs, then are, 

ASTRONOMIC YEARS. POETICAL YEARS. 

SataYug 4,800 equal to 1,728,000 

Treta " 3,600 " 1,296,000 

Dwapar" 2,400 « 864,000 

Cali * 1,200 " 432,000 



Mahayug 12,000 " 4,320 000 

The astronomic Yugs are but multiples of the cycle of six hundred years, 
which will be perhaps more evident to the reader if we reverse their or- 
der, thus: 



468 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



Cycle of 600 X 2 = 1,200 or Cali Yug. 
« « X 4 == 2,400 " Dwapar" 
« « X 6 = 3,600 " Treta " 
" « X8 = 4,800 " Sata " 
The poetical Yugs, are formed by multiplying the years of the astrono- 
mic yugs, by three hundred and sixty, as may be seen in the preceding 
statement. 

Though I consider these Yugs as answering among the ancient Hin- 
dus a purpose similar to that of our astronomic tables, I am not able to 
satisfy myself of their particular use except in one instance, which estab- 
lishes a very important fact. I think, the period of the Sata Yug, in ad- 
dition to its construction upon the scientific period of six hundred years, 
also manifests itself to have been a perfect cycle* for the intercalation of 
bissextile days, or their equivalent. The proof of this supposition may 
be seen in any of the more recent calculations upon the Gregorian calen- 
dar, in which it will be found, that the most perfect system of intercala- 
tion, is that of 41,851 days in the course of 172,800 years. Now, this 
period of time is exactly the Sata Yug, saving the addition of a 
single zero, which was thrown off probably by a divisor of 10. The 
extraordinary coincidence exhibited in the repetition of the numbers of 
these two periods of time, is too evident to be considered as in the least 
degree fortuitous. 

Now, with the preceding data, let us make a chronological investiga- 
tion. The earliest account I htve seen of the Yugs of the Hindus, is 
that of the Institutes of Menu, a work according to Sir William Jones, 
that was composed about one thousand two hundred and eighty years B. C 
There is no reason to think, that the invention of these astronomic pe- 
riods were of equal date with the Institutes of Menu; they may have 
been much more ancient, but at any rate, they cannot be later than that 
time. It is an easy question then to ask, what would be the shortest 
space of time prior to that date, in which we can believe the cycle of six 
hundred years, and system of the Yugs, could have been brought to such 
a system of absolute perfection, as they are stated in the Institutes of 
Menu. I apprehend at tie least, that two cycles of six hundred years 
must have elapsed, before the astronomers inventing the period could 
have been satisfied with its accuracy. This supposition, therefore, 
would carry us back to the origin of astronomic observation, and place it 
B. C. two thousand fom hundred and eighty. According to the general 
opinion, this era is before the dispersion from Babel, but in our estimate, 
about one hundred and eighty years after that event. 

As we claim nothing but the shortest possible period of time to have 
perfected this system, we shall not insist at the same time, upon the im- 
possibility of any such perfection in human observations that no one ma- 
terial mistake had arisen during this shortest period of allowed time, to 
procrastinate the ultimate arrival at absolute truth. 

But if any person will assert, that it was possible for the Hindus to have 
perfected their astronomic system in the space of thne assumed, and that 
they began the subject in total ignorance of scientific astronomy; he 
must also explain, why all the earlier postdiluvian nations became at in- 
sulated points, equally engaged in such scientific labours. The Chalde- 
ans, possessed a knowledge of the cycle of six hundred years from the 
remotest antiquity, and the Persians in their cycle of one hundred and 
twenty years, as we have shewn page 217, also knew the exact length of 

* Sadyhu, in the Sanscrit, signifies perfect; is not this the appellation of the 

Yug? 



OP THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 469 



the tropical year. The Egyptians have preserved an observation made 
upon the heliacal rising of Sirius, 2550 years B. C, and they also 
knew the length of the year, as far back in time as tradition has preser- 
ved a remembrance. The Mexicans also possessed this wonderfully ex- 
act knowledge. While the European nations, who had such infinite ad- 
vantages in the labours of preceding time, added to a vast superiority of 
their instruments, were inferior in this particular knowledge to the Mex- 
icans at the time of the conquest. 

But we can attain to a chronology still more favourable to our hypo- 
thesis, by investigating the era of the Cali Yug as established among the 
Hindus. 

The Cali Yug, which is the present and fourth age of the world ac- 
cording to the Hindus, commenced at a moment of time very remarkable 
for the origin of an astronomic epoch. It is affirmed by the Hindus to 
have begun 3102 years B. C.,at the instant of midnight, between the 
17th and 1 8th February, O. S., in the year of the Julian period 1612; at 
which time the planets were in a line of mean conjunction in the begin- 
ning of Aries, on the meridian of Lanka, (about 75° 50' E. of Greenwich.) 

The most condensed as well as the latest arguments upon this subject 
are those of the late Professor Playfair, which we shall extract as far as 
necessary to elucidate our subject from the elegant article Astronomy; 
Edin. Encyclopedia. A detailed and extensive view is given by the 
professor himself in vol. ii. 135, Trans. Edin. Society. 

"If the epoch of 3102 is fictitious, and has been determined by calcula- 
tion from observations of a modern date, the mean places of the sun and 
moon, assumed at that period, the inequalities in the motions of those lu- 
minaries, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the length of the tropical year, 
and the places of the fixed stars, must all differ from their real values, or 
those which would have been ascertained from actual observation, by 
quantities depending in some measure on the errors of the modern epoch, 
but chiefly on those minute variations arising from the theory of gravity, 
which the elements themselves have undergone, and which were disco- 
vered only towards the close of the 18th century. If we should there- 
fore find, that all these elements as assumed at the epoch of 3102, are 
nearly the same as if they had been then determined by observation; or, 
as if they had been deduced from a modern epoch by calculations involv- 
ing the acceleration of the moon, the variation in the precession of the 
equinoxes, the change of the obliquity of the ecliptic, &c. we have only 
two alternatives, either to believe that the epoch of 3102 is real, and the 
Indian astronomy of high antiquity, or that the Brahmins at the period 
of the modern epoch, were completely acquainted with the theory of gra- 
vity, and with all the refinements of modern analysis. 

"From the delineation of the zodiac, for example, which La Gentil 
brought from India, it appears, that the star Aldebaran was 40 minutes 
before the vernal equinox in 3102; now if we take the precession of the 
equinoxes at 50| seconds, and employ the inequality in the precession 
discovered by La Grange, we shall find by calculating from the place of 
Aldebaran in 1750, that in the year 3102, this star was 13 minutes be- 
yond the vernal equinox, a result differing only 53 minutes from the In- 
dian zodiac. But the force of this argument does not terminate here; 
even if the Brahmins had been acquainted with the inequality of preces- 
sion, and had applied it to the modern epoch of 1491 B. C. the 3 seconds 
of excess which they gave to the precession itself, would have produced 
an error of 3" X 3102 -f- 1491 — 3°, 49' 39", at the epoch of 3102. 

"The mean longitude of the sun, according to the Brahmins at the 
epoch of the tables of Tirvalore, is 10 s , 3°, 38', 13", and according to 
60 



470 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



the modern tables corrected by the inequality of precession discovered 
by La Grange, and amounting in the present case to 1°, 45', the 
longitude of that luminary is 10", 2°, 51', 19", differing only about 47 
minutes from the determination of the Indians. The longitude oi the 
moon at the same epoch by the Tirvalore tables, is 10", 6°, 0'; and the 
same computed from the tables of Mayer, and corrected by the moon's 
acceleration, is 10 s , 6°, 37', a coincidence so remarkable that it cuuld 
arise only from actual observation. Now if we compute the places of the 
sun and moon at the commencement of the Cali Youg, from the tables 
of the Greek and Arabian astronomers, or from those of Ulugh-Beigh, 
which were constructed at Samarcand in 1437; we shall find, that the 
tables of Ptolomey give an error of 1 1 ° in the place of the sun and moon, 
while the tables of the Tartar prince produce an error of 1°, 30', in the 
place of the sun, and of 6° in that of the moon. These results give ad- 
ditional strength to the former argument, and completely prove that the 
Indian astronomy is not the offspring of Greece or Arabia, and that the 
epochs of the Tirvalore tables were not deduced from modern observa- 
tions. Arguments of a similar nature, and equally strong with the pre- 
ceding, might be deduced from the obliquity of the ecliptic, the length 
of the solar year, the aphelion and mean motion of Jupiter, and the mean 
motion of Saturn, and the equation of his centre, as contained in the In- 
dian tables;' - but for this information we must refer our readers to the wri- 
tings of Bailly and professor Playfair. 

But important as the preceding facts may seem to be in establishing our 
theory, that certain mathematical and physical sciences, were known to 
wonderful perfection before the disperson from Babel, we are not obliged 
to rely for our proof in this matter exclusively upon the history of ancient 
astronomy. 

Among the ruins of time anterior to written history, we find a system 
of long measures common to the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Hin- 
doos, and Chinese, w hich, when compared among themselves, and the an- 
cient traditions of a measurement of the circumference of the earth, 
testify according to an elaborate analysis, that they are but fractional 
parts of a degree of the meridian, measured between the 49° and 50* of 
north latitude. [Bailly Hist. Astron. Mod. Liv. iv. sec. X^and Bailly's 
fourth letter to Voltaire.) 

How does it happen that these ancient nations have all the same scien- 
tific foundation for their system of measures? Can it be supposed possi- 
ble that they all sent astronomers to the 49° of N. latitude to measure 
a degree of the meridian, that they might thus construct their measures 
upon a natural standard? Why did national pride among these nations, 
and especially among the Egyptians so far to the southward, despise the 
meridians of their own kingdoms so much as to prefer a measurement at 
the 49 degree of latitude. Or if it be supposed that this measurement 
was accomplished by some unknown people since the deluge, how is to 
be explained that all other ancient nations preferred and adopted this 
scientific standard? Were they less proud, less bigoted, and less self- 
sufficient, than nations of the present time, not one of whom has adopted 
the French system of measures founded upon this same scientific principle. 

During the same remote and unknown period of time, the abstruse 
theory of musical sounds appears to have been also perfectly understood, 
though the science itself has been preserved but in detached parts. Ac- 
cording to the Abbe Roussier* quoted in Bailly, {Hist, de L' Astron, Anc. 

*"Le systeme musical des Chinois. pris dans ses termes oritrinanx, com- 
mence precisement ou finit celui des Grecs. Si le systeme des Grecs and 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 471 



h 85,) the Greeks have one part of the system, and the Chinese the re- 
mainder. 

We may also add in general confirmation, that in the tombs of the 
kings of Thebes, whose antiquity remounts to an unknown period, Bruce 
(Travels, i. 130, 135,) observed the drawing of a harp, not only elegant in 
its proportions and decorations, but with its musical scale, perhaps com- 
plete. (Burney, Hist. Music i. 214, 227.) 

After the preceding statements, I apprehended any one must be credu- 
lous indeed, who can believe that the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, 
Hindus, Chinese, and Mexicans, were all excited by a love of science to 
such a degree, that they simultaneously commenced their scientific pur- 
suits in common ignorance, and during the unknown ages of history car- 
ried them individually to such a prodigious perfection, as it is deemed we 
have sufficiently demonstrated. 

Though we have spoken of the great and scientific exactness of the 
ancient astronomy of the Chaldeans, Persians, Hindus, and Mexicans, 
our observations are applicable only to particular parts of their know- 
ledge; for we have not sufficient proof that any one of them maintained 
the entire system, which, divided among them in different proportions evi- 
dently shews an identical plan of construction. In other words; the dif- 
ferent nations above mentioned appear to have possessed but fragments 
of the great system, which they do not generally appear to have fully un- 
derstood, or, we might say, they followed implicitly the more obvious parts 
of a system that had been communicated to them without perceiving its 
scientific composition, but lost or neglected the use of other parts not so 
obviously useful or important to them. 

In this shattered state has ancient astronomy descended to us, exhibit- 
ing, in the words of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, methods of calculation 
without the principles on which they were founded; rules blindly followed 
without being understood; phenomena without their explanation, and 
elements carefully determined, while others more important and equally 
obvious are altogether unknown. 

From these circumstances, Bailly (Hist de VAstron. liv. i. sec. 12,) after 
great research, came to the conclusion that the astronomy of the Chal- 
deans, Hindus, Chinese, &c. was not the result of their own discoveries, 
but that it had been derived from some people anterior to them, who hav- 
ing suffered by some great revolution, had imparted but the fragments of 
their science, and in a shattered state, to the earlier established govern- 
ments of Asia and Africa. We give an entire assent to the facts as they 
are stated by Bailly, though we do not agree with him as to who this 
original people were. 

The more natural and plausible hypothesis, in our view, is to consider 
the scientific astronomy of the Chaldeans, Hindus, Mexicans, &c. to have 
been of antediluvian origin, which being preserved by Noah and his 
family, was necessarily communicated to his posterity; and in this man- 
ner became the common property of the human race. After the disper- 
sion from Babel, in the consequent confusion of the then existing state of 
things, in the emigrations of tribes and people, in the necessary labour of 
re-establishing themselves in other countries, in the multiplied sources of 
confusion arising out of loosely constructed governments, in wars, and 
civil commotions, is to be found the great revolution to which Bailly and 

celui des Chinois ne font ensemble qu' un seul et meme systeme, en tout par- 
faitement complet; il est evident que ce tout a ete systeme de quelque peuple 
plus ancien que les Grecs and les Chinois, and que ce sont les demembremens 
de ce systeme primitif qui ont forme differens systemes chez diverses na- 
tions." 



472 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



professor Playfair refer as the cause of the great deterioration of ancient 
astronomy, as well as of other scientific acquirements. 

But when human societies had encountered and overcome all the diffi- 
culties attendant on the remodelling of their social institutions, when 
peace and abundance would allow the philosophical mind to contemplate 
the wonders of creation, and attempt to ascertain their laws; then as- 
tronomy, as well as other sciences began to revive, and such parts of the 
ancient system of things as had been preserved by tradition or by habitual 
usage,* were then drawn out into various systems of more or less perfec- 
tion, and under more or less ignorance of the scientific theory which pre- 
vious to the dispersion or the deluge, had united all the component parts 
together with consistency and harmony. 

As far as we can judge, the history of ancient nations completely justi- 
fies our hypothesis. For though certain parts of the ancient astronomy 
of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Persians, Mexicans, &c. are wonderfully ex- 
act, being based upon one originally common scientific system, yet their 
respective systems are not of this entire scientific character; shewing, that 
in the development of their peculiar systems, they had each proceeded 
upon a plan not generally common to them all; and which is, for the most 
part, sensibly inferior to the scientific character of the principles constitu- 
ting their foundation. 

Did the nature of our inquiry admit further discussion, we might shew 
that in the construction of the ancient calendars of the Persians, Chinese, 
Mexicans, &c. we cannot perceive any of the beginnings or rudiments of 
astronomical science, or exhibiting a rude and ignorant state of origin, such 
as we might suppose to have been the first attempts at constructing as- 
tronomic periods of time. I trust we have sufficiently though briefly 
shewn, that the small periods used by the Hindus, Persians, Mexicans, and 
others, which are commonly denominated months, or half months, have no 
reference to lunar motions as has been commonly supposed, but that they 
are artificial periods, entirely founded on a knowledge of the real length 
of the tropical year. This is evident from the regular proportion they 
constantly bear to the years of the great cycle, that any people choose to 
establish as their chronological period. See page 216. But interesting 
as the subject may be, we must now leave it and pass on to the consider- 
ation of other matters. 

Though I cannot perceive any difficulty in considering the antediluvian 
ages to have been highly characterised by their intellectual attainments, 
yet as many persons have not been in the habit of admitting'such to have 
been the case, it may not be amiss to call their attention to the probabili- 
ty of such a state of things. Proofs of the fact, beyond what has been 
already exhibited we have not. But there exists an absolute necessity for 
such an opinion to explain the history of ancient astronomy, whose per- 

* We can illustrate this matter by a very familiar observation. Suppose a 
ship conveying emigrants from the United States to any other part, of the 
globe, should be wrecked upon an uninhabited island upon which the crew 
and passengers would be saved. What state of society would exist among 
them afterwards? Certainly, one every way analogous to that to which they 
had been previously accustomed. They would continue to count every fourth 
February to contain twenty nine days, though they might be entirely igno- 
rant of the reason of such a computation. And in like manner with every 
thing else; they would follow the ancientsystem of things that they had pre- 
viously known or practised. 

Such was the case after the dispersion from Babel. Every society of men 
followed with more or less exactness, the institutions, practices, &e. that had 
been universally known in a former age. 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 473 



fection at times so shortly after the deluge, we apprehend, imperiously re- 
quires such an hypothesis. 

But cceteris paribus; let us compare the antediluvian ages with after 
ages. In point of time the first amounted to 2256 years; and the numbers 
of men far exceeded those at present. Those destroyed by the deluge, are 
supposed to have been upwards of 13,743,895,000,000, (see Art. Antedilu- 
vian. Cyclopedia,) while, according to the best computations, in the year 
1800 the number of our species then only amounted to 700,500,000. 
Now, with the above vast numbers, and with the world in the state that 
it was first tenanted by man, it would surely be unreasonable not to sup- 
pose that some of the antediluvians would be as wise as any of their de- 
scendants. Did the arts owe their origin to the necessities of our nature? 
The superior numbers of the antediluvians certainly, then, gave them the 
advantage over us. Did the the sciences originate in tranquillity, solitude, 
or society? — They had at least equal opportunities with us. Or was 
knowledge imparted by intuition or revelation? If so, they had the ad- 
vantage over us; — for we have no account that this was done to the post- 
diluvians, and the theories of all writers unanimously deny it. 

There were eight persons preserved in the ark, all adults and who had 
each lived several centuries. How could they forget the arts, the scien- 
ces, and the conveniences of life to which they had been accustomed be- 
fore the deluge. Is it not infinitely more probable, that believing they 
would restore the human race and again repeople the earth, that they 
carefully preserved every thing interesting or useful to themselves or their 
future posterity? 

When the dispersion took place, and men were scattered over the face 
of the earth, wherever they went they carried with them, in greater or 
less perfection, the sciences, the arts, the habits, and religion, that had pre- 
viously been of universal establishment. That considerable diversities 
should exist among them afterwards is not difficult to explain. A state 
of great confusion prevailed at the time; emigrations to a great distance 
had been accomplished; individual exertion was every where necessary in 
supporting life; wars and schisms of various kinds took place; and amid 
these various causes of confusion and disorder, science was lost, numerous 
arts perished, religion was still further corrupted, and few, if any, could be 
found in the course of a few generations sufficiently qualified or disposed 
to write history.* As this state of things was nearly universal, a com- 
mon ignorance prevailed among mankind concerning their original history, 
except so far as tradition, always uncertain and exaggerating, preserved a 
remembrance of previous events. But when human society had become 
regularly established in the various countries to which man had been dis- 
persed, and when histories were written, we then find they exhibit socie- 
ty existing with institutions, arts, sciences, and religion, which, however 

"*I cannot but consider alphabetical writing to have been in use before the 
deluge. The Chaldeans and Hindus expressly state, that books were pre- 
served at that time by Xisthurus and Satvavrata, and all pagan antiquity re- 
fers the invention to the earliest of their gods or heroes. The opinion* that 
letters were first revealed at Mt. Sinai, is an arbitrary hypothesis that was 
never received by the Jews themselves, who attribute the invention to Abel 
or Enoch. Jasephus expressly says, the children of Seth, before the deluge, 
erected two pillars upon which inscriptions were written. Joshua, when he 
invaded the land of Canaan, found a city there called Kirgath Sepher; "City 
of Boofcs," and which fortunately to prevent this translation being considered 
ambiguous, was known also by the name of Debir, a word of like import. — 
Our arguments might be greatly extended if the nature of our essay permit- 
ted the inquiry. 



474 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



confused and corrupted, still evidently manifest traces of having been de- 
rived from a highly intellectual state of society. 

Having now shewn the intellectual character of the antediluvian ages, 
so far as concerns matters of philosophy and science, it yet remains for us 
to make some investigation concerning the religion that prevailed among 
mankind, prior to the dispersion from Babel; for to that period of time we 
must refer for the foundation or commencement of a system, that has un- 
doubtedly constituted the basis of all those idolatrous religions which have 
prevailed throughout the habitable earth. 

To have some defined ideas upon this subject is necessary for explain- 
ing certain very remarkable superstitions observable in the history of se- 
veral American nations, which agreeing directly in substance with some 
of the most recondite principles of the mythology of Phoenicia, Egypt, and 
Hindostan, seem thereby to establish the fact, that they have all proceed- 
ed from some one original scheme of religious institution. 

To prove this identity of religious system among the idolatrous super- 
stitions of the more civilized nations of either continent, is not within the 
limits of our essay. That such is the fact may be seen in the writings of 
various authors, who have made this subject a particular object of inves- 
tigation. To the works of Bochart, Bryant, Faber, &c. we refer the 
reader who requires express proof. Though at the same time that we 
quote these great authorities, we cannot help adding that their views on 
the subject are comparatively limited. They have not brought together 
a vast number of analogies that might have been procured. This we 
mention without the least idea of conveying an expression of censure- No 
one individual could ascertain the limits of this immense subject, which 
is continually augmented by the discovery of new facts. But with the 
exception of the ftev'd Mr. Faber, I am confident all preceding writers 
have been embarrassed by the partial theory they followed, which restrict- 
ed their search after truth by compelling them to walk within bounds they 
had unnecessarily prescribed to themselves. Mr. Faber has far advanc- 
ed beyond other labourers in this investigation, and would probably, have 
anticipated any observations of mine on this subject, had he but applied 
himself, in addition to his other vast researches, to the examination of the 
ancient superstitions of aboriginal America. Benefiting by his labours 
and his opinions, as far as my opportunities for research have allowed, I 
have extended his views, and in some instances, I hope not presumptuous- 
ly, have made an explanation of certain superstitions, differing from those 
given by him in his learned work on the origin of idolatry. Whether I 
am correct or not, must be referred to the judgment of the literary and 
religious world. 

J shall make no mention of those matters concerning which an avowed 
identity is admitted; my object being only to explain, if possible, certain 
superstitions observable in the religions of several demi-civilized Ameri- 
can nations, concerning which I have seen no explanation hitherto given. 

That the order, harmony, and mechanism of the universe, indicates the 
existence of a God, I believe indisputable by any one in the possession of 
his senses. But if mankind through the mere light of nature, should per- 
ceive the necessity of the existence of a God to explain the fact of his 
works, I cannot see any reason, why they should deem it their obligation 
to worship him, and certainly much less, why they should universally 
agree to perform their religious service, in the same system of dogmas, 
rites, and ceremonies, the explanation of which depends upon an arbitrary 
theory, involving not only the circumstances of our present life, but more 
particularly, a state of existence after death; a supposition in every parti- 
cular contrary to the direct evidence of our senses. Therefore, when we 



OP THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 475 



find mankind, universally, not only worshipping a God as the author of 
all good, with prayer and continual efforts to attain moral purity, I must 
be permitted to ask, why there exists so universally the prejudice that 
their God hears them, and is willing to increase their happiness? Surely 
nothing in nature will communicate such an impression, and as to a re- 
ward for just and merciful actions to our fellow creatures, history hardly 
informs us of any other particular, than that the violent and the unjust, 
the deceitful and the bold, attain to those honours and enjoyments, which 
in the general opinion of mankind constitute the greatest degree of hap- 
piness. 

If then we cannot find a solution of these very first principles of reli- 
gion in the theory of natural religion, it is in vain to search in its influ- 
ences, for the reason why man universally admits himself to be a fallible 
peccant creature, responsible in a future state to his maker for the good 
or evil actions of life; and much less, that he should universally attempt 
to propitiate his gods, by the sacrifice of an animal devoid of intellect, 
who is unconscious of the act by which it is devoted, and the shedding of 
whose blood would apparently be an act of unmeaning cruelty. 

But the further we extend our researches into the rites, ceremonies, 
and dogmas of paganism, the more we are convinced of the unity and 
identity of its institutions; and as we cannot find an adequate solution of 
these facts in natural religion, we must refer them to some one ancient 
original scheme. Nor can we long hesitate to say from what system all 
human religion has arisen; for the many analogies existing between pa- 
ganism and the religious dogmas and institutions of the Bible, abundantly 
shew, however inexact our view of the subject may be, that the doc- 
trines and history, mostly religious, of the scriptures, have an evident and 
material connexion with the institutions of paganism. 

So remarkable are the analogies existing between the rites and institu- 
tions of the civilized pagans of antiquity, and those of the patriarchs, or 
of the Jews, that those persons who admit and those who deny the inspi- 
ration of the scriptures, have in their various controversies largely specu- 
lated upon the causes of these resemblances; and generally speaking, I 
apprehend, both sides have failed to explain the fact. The one has sup- 
posed that the Jews derived and adopted their religious observances from 
the pagans, but this is stopping far short of the real question; for they 
must not only shew us, how the mere natural intelligence of man led 
them to the adoption of dogmas, which I cannot see how they could pos- 
sibly derive through their light of nature, as it is called; but they must 
also inform us, why mankind should universally adopt the arbitrary and 
artificial system, such as it prevails among the pagans themselves. 

This has never yet been shewn by any sceptical writer, and I believe it 
to be impossible. 

Those who have supposed that the pagans derived those matters of 
undoubted analogy, from the Jews, require us to attribute to these last an 
influence they never possessed among any nation, even those the most 
closely united with them. The scriptures continually upbraid the Jews 
with adopting idolatrous practices from the neighbouring pagans, but we 
never hear a word of a converse practice. 

But the Jewish history is complete, and we know they did not begin to 
exist as a nation, until after their settlement in the land of Canaan, B. C. 
1547: we cannot therefore ask, whether the pagans of antiquity lived 
without any religion during the preceding sixteen hundred years, for they 
certainly did possess one, for whose abominations the Jews were directed 
to destroy that part residing in the land of Canaan. 

Let us look a moment at the subject. The Jews, were but deseen- 



476 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



dants from the patriarch Noah, as well as the pagan nations; and did 
God, who had destroyed the antediluvian world for their sins, and who 
preserved Noah for his righteousness hy an immediate miracle, who bless- 
ed him and his children, and told them to multiply and again fill the earth 
with inhabitants, did he at the same time deprive Noah and his family of 
the knowledge of that religious system, by which the antediluvian world 
had been judged and condemned? Is it not more reasonable to suppose, 
that a greater degree of light and knowledge was communicated to them, 
in addition to that which they had previously possessed? I apprehend the 
supposition to be highly plausible; but whether this be true or not, it is 
impossible but that the posterity of Noah derived from, or participated 
with their great progenitor in some common religious system, which we 
cannot doubt was fully equal to all the moral responsibility of human na- 
ture. But we may certainly go further than this. As the whole human 
race, from the first man Adam, down to the very last man that shall be 
born, are all placed under similar conditions of life and death, moral ac- 
countability, and future judgment, so God s covenant with the world is 
of but one character. Death was brought into the world by Adam's 
transgression, and has fallen upon every one of his descendants. The 
recovery from this unhappy condition, therefore, must be co-extensive, 
and the covenant of God with the world must have been the same 
in every age. We do not pretend to say, that the same religious light 
prevailed hi every age, exhibiting the covenant equally clear in all its fea- 
tures; for we know at least, that the Jewish dispensation was obscure to 
the one following the advent. It will not follow, however, that the patri- 
archal dispensation was still more obscure than that of the Jews, though 
this is certainly the common prejudice. 

I cannot in these pages, enter upon a general inquiry concerning the 
degree of religious knowledge possessed by the human race either before 
the deluge, or afterwards until the calling of Abraham. This has been 
done in a most admirable manner by Mr. Faber in his work entitled The 
Three Dispensations; and he has there shewn, that the patriarchal ages 
were possessed either of a direct or typical light, upon all those subjects 
interesting or essential to the recovery of corrupted human nature. 

Yet, it may not be amiss to ask, whether it be possible, that such per- 
sonages as Job, Jethro, and Melchizideck, could have lived at different 
times, and in different parts of the world, while ignorance and obscure 
ideas of religion prevailed at the same time among the people with whom 
they sojourned. 

Job knew a Redeemer should stand in the latter days upon the earth, and 
that his body should be resuscitated from the dead; and the mind is lost in 
the magnitude of its ideas, when we contemplate the name and character 
of Melchizideck. 

Who was Melchizideck, that "priest of the most high God;" that King 
of Righteousness, and King of Peace? the lustre of whose theological cha- 
racter was so great, that he was ever considered the most illustrious type 
of our Redeemer. The prophet David declared the Messiah a priest for 
ever after his order; and St. Paul especially calls our attention to his 
greatness, as being much superior to that of the Aaronical priesthood? 
Was there indeed ignorance of the truths of divine religion at the time 
Melchizideck lived? There must be more evidence than is implied in mere 
silence of the scriptures, to establish this belief in my mind, did it rely 
alone upon the names above mentioned. 

I can have no doubt, that in the patriarchal ages there did prevail a 
knowledge of all the essential parts of a religious system, analogous to 
that one contained in the scriptures,, and even developed in certain parti- 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 477 



culars, to an extent which will astonish many persons, when they find the 
various fragments brought together according to a systematic plan. 

But before we proceed to the investigation of certain particulars, which 
we apprehend little known according to the views we shall take; we 
close our general view, by stating, that upon the foundations of the pa- 
triarchal covenant idolatry arose, not by a direct departure from its princi- 
ples, but by gradual and insensible corruptions of doctrines, rites, and ob- 
servances; an hypothesis which the unhappy frailty of speculative man 
has rendered abundantly plausible in the history of every wise or benefi- 
cent institution. The progress from true religion to idolatry was gradual, 
and not by any immediate renunciation of its obligations, and never has 
been so absolutely separated, but that traces of the originally pure system 
might be discerned amid gross corruptions. This general theory we 
thefore offer to explain any analogous practices or dogmas already known 
as existing between the doctrines of paganism and those of the scrip- 
tures. 

But we consider ourselves in possession of other facts not so well known, 
which will give the subject a much greater importance; and the correct 
understanding of which, is essential towards explaining certain supersti- 
tions observed among several demi-civilized people of America. 

In page 240 we have mentioned an extraordinary superstition of the 
Mexicans, in which they made from flour, blood, and spices, an image of 
their principal deity; which after a mimic sacrifice was broken in pieces, 
and distributed as a communion among the Mexican people, who eat it 
with religious devotion. , 

Though this practice was so extraordinary as to induce the Spaniards 
to consider it an invention of the devil, thus aping the sacramental com- 
memoration of Christianity, yet none of them have given us the least idea 
of the peculiar views of the Mexicans themselves, concerning this super- 
stitious observance. Yet it must be evident to any person reading the 
narration, that the people had some views or other concerning this rite, 
and which was so extraordinary, that no human being of any intellect 
could participate in the ceremony, without asking, What is the meaning of 
this institution? 

Let us then suppose an intelligent Mexican to ask such a question from 
his priest, or if it may have been deemed of an esoteric nature, suppose it 
was a young priest asking of his superior questions to this purport: 

What is the meaning of thus scenically sacrificing the god Huitzilo- 
pochtli? W as he ever sacrificed in this manner? And if he was thus sa- 
crificed, how is he represented as a powerful deity, even the chief god and 
protector of Mexico? Did he again revive, and ascend to heaven a god? 
Why is it that the whole people are made participators in this emblema- 
tical sacrifice of our God? 

Such questions we cannot doubt, were propounded to all those who had 
authority to instruct the Mexican priests. But where shall we find the 
answers? We cannot pretend to state them, and yet they are so extra- 
ordinary, and are susceptible of so direct an explanation, that few readers 
of this page will hesitate to say, they must be answered in a manner con- 
formable to the great dogma of Christianity, though it may seem incredi- 
ble to many, that it should allude to that principle of our faith. 

I will not attempt to answer these questions directly, for it will be much 
better, and more satisfactory, to make pagan antiquity answer them, and 
which I think can be done with perfect satisfaction. The inquiry also 
will tend to throw great light on the history of the patriarchal religion, and 
establish truths as being known from the earliest ages, which have been 
deemed chronologically of much latter times. 
61 



4 78 



INTELLECTUAL 



AND 



MORAL CHARACTER 



We have already suggested the opinion in a former page, that this sce- 
nical or typical sacrifice of the Mexican god Huitzilopochtli, was based 
upon some ancient dogma of nearly universal acceptance among the pagan 
nations; for its peculiar features appear to have been established equally 
among the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hindus, &c. in their religious com- 
memorations of Osiris, Adonis, Purushu, &c. It would have led us too 
far out of our prescribed path, to have more than alluded to these analogies 
when discoursing on the religion of the Mexicans. But we now propose 
to examine the matter in greater detail, for the evident reason, that these 
singular and mysterious analogies must be considered as belonging to the 
common history of mankind prior to the dispersion, and whose general in- 
tellectual character we have shewn has influenced to a greater or less de- 
gree the whole human race. 

We assert, then, that the mystic death and sacrifice of the Mexican god 
Huitzilopochtli, is analogous to the mystic death, revivification, &c. of the 
pagan gods Osiris, Attis Adonis, Dionysius, Narayen, &c. and which we 
propose to establish, by a view of the religious commemoration and mysti- 
cal doctrines entertained by the heathen nations of these matters, as far as 
we can Collect important materials from the rubbish of former ages. 

But though we assert the practices among all these different people, to 
have been founded on one original belief or institution, we do not say that 
the features of resemblance are hi every respect precisely similar. But 
we shall be able, I presume, to prove this identity, by the evident agree- 
ment that exists among them all in two remarkable features, that it seems 
impossible could exist separately. Though we may be able to shew the 
one feature only among one people, and the other in another people, yet 
the necessary connexion of the two principles will be evident, whether we 
prove the one or the other. 

We therefore shall proceed to shew; jirst, that very many of the an- 
cient pagans distinctly admitted, that some one or other of their impor- 
tant deities had suffered a violent death; and secondly, that this death was 
either considered directly sacrificial, or that moral benefit to mankind was 
in a greater or less degree connected with this supposed death of their 
gods. 

To exhibit a faithful view of this subject, I shall, as far as possible, re- 
frain from exhibiting the facts in my own language, prefering to use the 
words of other writers who certainly have not entertained similar views 
to myself. 

We shall commence with the account history has related of Osiris. 
Osiris, who was the chief divinity of the Egyptians, and who, according to 
Herodotus, with his wife Isis, were the most generally worshipped in the 
country, was, according to Diod. Siculus, the same as Menes or the first 
king of Egypt. With these particulars we have no concern any further 
than that he was one of the chief deities of Egypt. The tradition, how- 
ever, shews him to be an allegorical personage altogether, for his history 
is irreconcilable with any supposition that he was either a man or king. 

it is reported of Osiris, that when he was king of Egypt, and whilst en- 
gaged hi philanthropic labours in Arabia, India, and Europe, his brother 
Typhon conspired against him, and having artfully persuaded Osiris, on 
his return to Egypt, to enter a chest, he together with assistant conspira- 
tors closed it fast, and then threw it into the river Nile. The chest was 
carried by the waves into the ocean, and finally was thrown upon the 
coast of Phoenicia. His consort Isis, with infinite labour and great lamen- 
tation, constantly sought the dead body of her husband, until she recover- 
ed it and brought it back to Egypt. Typhon on being apprised of this 
fact, opened the chest and divided the body into fourteen or twenty-six 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 479 



pieces, and caused them to be carried into different parts of Egypt. Again, 
Isis re-collected the several members, enclosed them in a coffin, and had 
them interred. 

Historical tradition then asserts, that Isis and Horus, made war upon 
Typhon, and revenged the death of Osiris; and that in honour of his me- 
mory certain mysteries were instituted. 

It is altogether out of our power to go into the investigation of all the 
particulars of this mythological fable, and it is utterly impossible to recon- 
cile them with the history of any real event. Orus himself, was supposed 
to have been treated in the same way by Typhon* and the ancient wri- 
ters as well as the moderns, have agreed to consider Typhon and Osiris, 
as representing the perpetual contests that take place between the good 
and evil principle, in which each alternately triumphs over the other. I 
think, however, that this supposition, though it may have some corrupted 
ideas of the original institution in its theory, is not the real explanation of 
the Egyptian practice: for we find it distinctly stated by the ancient my- 
thologists, though they do not explain the circumstance, that Osiris after 
having descended to hades, again returned to life, and his soul once more 
animated his body. It was this circumstance that constituted the reason 
for the great rejoicings that took place in celebrating his mysteries. Af- 
ter a mimic search, with great appearance of grief and noisy lamentation, 
the priests exclaimed, "the lost Osiris was found, that the dead Osiris was 
restored to life, that he who had descended into hades, had returned from 
hades;" (Plut. de Osiris and Ms, in Faber, iii. 123,) and then they all ex- 
ultingly cried out, "we have found the lost Osiris, let us rejoice together." 

In like manner Adonis was commemorated in Phoenicia by mysteries al- 
most precisely analogous to those of Osiris. 

We are told (Faber, Pag: Idol. ii. 258, (that when Adonis was a child, 
Venus, or Astarte, struck with his beauty, concealed him from the other 
gods in an ark which she committed to the care of Proserpine. But we 
are also informed, that he was afterwards slain by a wild boar, and his 
body disappeared; in consequence of which he was sought by Venus in 
various countries, until the body was found in Argos, a city of Cyprus. 

The rites by which this event was commemorated, were precisely simi- 
lar to those of Osiris. A mimic search was made for him a certain time, 
until he was asserted to be found, when great rejoicings took place. 

The account that Lucian has given us of this matter, is both curious 
and explicit. 

"It was in their country, (By blis in Phoenicia) they tell you, that Adonis 
was killed by the boar; in memory of which they have a general mourning 
once a year, and are very strict and ceremonious in the observation of it. 
But the very next day after their funeral offerings, as if he were come to 
life again, they declare him to be on a journey in the air. During this 
mourning they have no mercy on their own bodies, which are severely 
beaten, and they shave their heads as the Egyptians do for their dead 
Apis." (Carr's Lucian, 723.) 

*Not only Osiris and Orus, according to Bryant, (dnal. And. Mythol. iii. 
345,) had suffered death and afterwards received a renewal of their lives, but 
the same thing is reported of the successor of Orus, called Talus, Tulus or 
Tholus. It is also said of Rhameses, whom Herodotus calls Rhampsinitus, 
that he descended to the mansions of death, and after some stay returned to 
light The anniversary of his return was held sacred and observed as a fes- 
tival by the Egyptians. 

Bryant thinks the above names are synonymes of Osiris, but it seems more 
probable to me, that though the foundation for the legend is the same, yet 
the preceding names are rather the mythological personages of several dif- 
ferent people entertaining similar views with the Egyptians. 



480 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



From other writers we learn, that during this celebration, a statue of 
Adonis in his dead state was borne in procession, accompanied with bas- 
kets full of cakes, perfumes and flowers. The people were all dressed as 
if in mourning, groaning and lamentations were heard all over the coun- 
try, until it was announced that Adonis had been found, when universal 
joy succeeded to their lamentation. 

There can be no reasonable ground to doubt, that the Thamuz of the 
scriptures was the same with Adonis; and whom Ezekiel represents as 
being mourned by the Jewish women. 

I consider that an analogous custom prevailed among the Assyrians, 
which is alluded to by the prophet Zachariah, chap. xii. 10 to 14, where 
he mentions the mourning of Hadad Rimmon.* The use of this subject 
of comparison on the part of the prophet, if his figures are drawn accord- 
ing to our ideas of the character of Hadad Rimmon, are very extraordinary. 

It will not be necessary to describe the rites or mysteries concerning 
Attis, who was first lamented in a similar manner, and then rejoiced for on 
account of his restoration to life. Nor of the rites of Dionysius or Bacchus, 
who was torn by the Titans into seven pieces, which were collected by 
Rhea, and joined together again. He also was supposed to have revived 
after he had descended to hades. His orgies were commemorated by pre- 
vious lamentation, and then by extravagant emotions of joy, resembling 
enthusiastic madness. 

The mysteries of Ceres, or as they are generally called, the Eleusinian, 
are the same in their general features with those just enumerated; but a 
female deity was here lamented instead of a male.f In other respects 
there was no material difference; for a wooden figure of a virgin was ex- 
posed to the initiated, over whom they lamented for forty days. {Jul. Fir- 
micus in Faber, Pag. Idol. hi. 129.) 

Before we conclude the enumeration of those facts which we have deriv- 
ed from the Greek writers, we beg leave to add some of those more vague 
and uncertain traditions which prevailed among them, which we cannot 
hesitate to believe, were originally based in analogous superstitions, how- 
ever disjointed the fragments may now seem. 

There are certain circumstances connected with the history of Linus, 
which justify the belief, that the Greeks, directly or indirectly, made his 
history analogous to that of Osiris Mr. Faber, (Myst. Cab. ii. 13,) con- 
siders Linus to have been the same with the Egyptian Maneros, whom he 
supposes the same with Osiris. One thing is certain, that the song and 
tune called by the Greeks, the song of Linus, was entitled by the Egyp- 
tians Maneros; a circumstance that perplexed Herodotus exceedingly to 
explain, why they as well as other nations foreign to Greece, should have 
this tune and lamentation.^ 

* Adad or Hadad, the same as Adonis. (Jackson, Chron. Jntiq. iii. 29. Note.) 

f The Eleusinian mysteries were derived from the Egyptians or Phoeni- 
cians, (Diod. Sic. lib. 1. chap. 7,) but the Greeks modified them to suit their 
own notions from a male to a female deity. At Samothrace, the divinity 
over whom they mourned was a male. (Faber, Orig Idol iii. 131.) 

\ "Among other things," says Herodotus, i. chap- T9. "which claim our 
approbation, they (the Egyptians) have a song which is also used in Phoenicia, 
Cyprus, and other places, where it is differently named. Of all the things 
which astonished in Egypt, nothing more perplexed me, than my curiosity 
to know whence the Egyptians learned this song so entirely resembling the 
Linus of the Greeks. It is of the remotest antiquity among them, and they 
call it Maneros. They have a tradition that Maneros was the only son of 
their first monarch, and that having prematurely died, they instituted these 
melancholy strains in his honour, constituting their first, and in earlier times 
their only song." 



OP THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 481 



The Greek story was, that Linus had been put to death by Apollo for 
having dared to compare his music to tha t of the gods. But nothing is 
more absurd than that all the barbarian nations should have such a notion 
in common with the Greeks. We belie\e with the learned translator of 
Pausanias, that the Greeks had no distinct idea concerning Linus, and 
particularly that they did not know for what reason he was lamented by 
foreign nations. Pausanias (lib. ix. chap. 29,) says expressly, "indeed the 
death of Linus was lamented by every barbarian nation^ and among the 
Egyptians there is a song which the Greeks call Linus, but which is de- 
nominated by the Egyptians, Maneroon. But the Greeks, and among 
these Homer, mention this song as Grecian. Homer, who was well ac- 
quainted with the misfortune of Linus, says, that Vulcan represented 
among other things in the shield of Achilles, a boy playing on the harp, 
and singing the fate of Linus." 

"Pamphus, who composed the most ancient hymns used by the Atheni- 
ans, says, that grief for the death of Linus increased to such a degree, 
that he was called Oitolinos, or the lamentable Linus." 

Pelops, like Bacchus or Osiris, (Faber, Myst. Cab. ii. 22,) "is feigned to 
have been torn limb from limb, and afterwards to have had his scattered 
members joined together again; and hence he is described by Lycophron 
as restored to life and enjoying the pleasures of a second youth." 

Mr. Faber also thinks, that the dilaceration of Hippasus by his mother 
Leucippa, is the same story as the history of Dionysius or Bacchus. And 
to similar notions he refers the history of Hippolytus, "whom Diana with 
the assistance of Esculapius, brought back from the infernal regions, and 
conveyed to the grove Arica in Italy, where he was worshipped under the 
name^of Virbius, or twice born." The Scholia in Pers. Sat. vi. v. 56, 
mentions the legend thus, "nemus Dianse (Arica) ubi Virbius colitur, id 
est Hippolytus, quod bis in vitam prolapsus sit." 

Servius, in his commentary upon the Eneid, very justly remarks, 
that Virbius or Hippolytus was worshipped in conjunction with Diana, 
precisely in the same manner as Attis was joined to the mother of the 
Gods, Erichthonius to Minerva, and Adonis to Venus. (Myst. Cabiri ii. 
35, 37.) 

Bryant entertained opinions concerning Orpheus, which would refer his 
history to corrupted ideas analogous to those we have already stated. 
"The head of Orpheus (Anal. And. Mythol. ii. 134,) was said to be car- 
ried to Lemnos, just as the head of Osiris used to be wafted to Byblus. 
He is described as going to the shades below, and afterwards returning to 
upper air. This is similar to the history of Osiris, who was supposed to 
have been in a state of death; and after a time to have come to life. 
There was moreover something mysterious in the death of Orpheus; for 
it seems to have been celebrated with the same frantic acts of grief, as 
people practised in the lamentations for Thamuz and Osiris and at the 
rites of Baal." 

The history of Prometheus, whom we consider most essentially connect- 
ed with our subject, we shall introduce in a more suitable place than the 
present. 

We also find that nations far to the east of Egypt, Phoenicia, and 
Greece, entertained similar mysterious doctrines concerning some god or 
divine personage important in their mythological systems. Thus it is stat- 
ed by Major Wilford, (Asiat Res. x. 129, 131,) to prevail among the Chi- 
nese Tartars. 

"The followers of Buddha (As. Res. x. 129,) suppose that the bones or 
limbs of the son of the spirit of heaven, (whom Wilford considers to 
have been the first man re-emerging in every Calpa,) to have been scat- 



482 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



tered over the face of the earth like those of Osiris and Jupiter Zagreus. 
To collect them was the first duty of his descendants and followers, and 
then to entomb them. Out of filial piety, the remembrance of this mourn- 
ful search was yearly kept up by a fictitious one with all possible marks 
of grief and sorrow, till a priest announced that the sacred relics were at 
last found. This is practised to this day by several Tartarian tribes of 
the religion of Buddha, and the expression of the bones of the son of the 
spirit of heaven, is peculiar to the Chinese, and some tribes in Tartary." 

"The practice of preserving the bones of Buddha, (As. Res. x. 131,) is 
of great antiquity; for it is expressly mentioned by Clemens of Alexan- 
dria, who says, that they were deposited under a pyramid." 

I am not prepared to say how far the legends of the Hindoos concern- 
ing Chrishna are referrible to the present investigation His history, re- 
markable in an extraordinary degree,* would bear the supposition that it 
has been at least modified, though we know not how far, by legends de- 
rived from some of the apocryphal gospels concerning Christ, which it has 
been supposed at an early period after the advent found their way into 
India. We therefore do not feel at liberty to use the Hindu traditions 
concerning this deity. But we have another matter derived from Hindu 
antiquity, which will greatly extend our ideas on the mysterious subject 
of our present research. 

The reader will remember that in the commencement of this investi- 
gation, we asserted that many pagan nations of antiquity entertained the 
belief that some of their gods had suffered death, which was either sacri- 
ficial, or attended in some manner or other with beneficial consequences 
to mankind. As our proofs were to be derived from a mass of ancient 
fragments of mythology, it could not be expected that we should be able 
to shew every particular with distinctness. But we apprehended, that 
distinct features of the propositions we made could be perceived either in 
one form or the other. We again have renewed our observation previ- 
ous to making the following extract, which in our apprehension conveys 
similar ideas to those already given from the mythology of other nations. 
It will be seen, that the account is but a fragment of a most curious sub- 
ject which may be yet largely investigated in Hindostan. 

The belief that a god had been sacrificed, is distinctly stated in the 
Vedas of the Hindus. For in the account given us of the Purushamed'ha. 
or mystical sacrifice of Purusha, it is said to be a type of the allegorical 
immolation of Narayana, or of Brahma in that character. 

Purusha, signifies the "primeval man or primeval person;" and the 
hymn that alludes to his sacrifice, is recited among the ceremonies of the 
Sradha, or oblations in honour of deceased ancestors. Sixteen verses of 
this hymn are published in Moor's Hindu Pantheon, p. 75, of which we 
shall alone extract those that bear directly on our subject. 

9. Him (Purusha) the gods, the demigods, named Sad'ha, and the holy 
sages, immolated as a victim on sacred grass, and thus performed a solemn 
act of religion. 

10. Into how many portions did they divide this being, whom they im- 
molated? &c. 

11. 12, 13. Are answers to the question of the 10th verse. 

14. In that solemn sacrifice which the gods performed with him as a 
victim, spring was the altar, summer the fuel, and sultry weather, the 
oblation. 

* Chrishna is considered as the first in dignity and principal incarnation; 
the others (Avatars) are greatly inferior to this, and merely introduced to 
bring on the grand system of regeneration." (As. Res. x. 37.) 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 



483 



15. Seven were the moats surrounding the altar, thrice seven were the 
logs of holy fuel at that sacrifice, which the gods performed immolating, 
(rather binding or consecrating, As. Res. viii. 437,) this being as the vic- 
tim. 

16. By that sacrifice the gods worshipped this victim. Such were pri- 
meval duties, and thus did they attain heaven, where former gods and 
mighty demigods abide." 

The Hindu commentary upon this hymn, has not been translated by 
Mr. Colebrook, to our great regret, though he says "it does not really 
elucidate the sense." (As. Res. viii. 436.) 

We have learned, however, that the Purushamed'ha is an allegorical 
representation of the "immolation" of Narayana, or Brahma in that cha- 
racter. This is very surprising, for Brahma is the first one of the Hindu 
Triad, and Narayana, is strictly the spirit of God, whom the Hindus 
have personified under that name-* 

A passage in the Hitopadesa, (Moor, Panth. 80,) speaks jof Narayana 
as Brahma, comprehending in himself the three great powers or personi- 
fications. "The great and mighty Lord Narayana, the author of creation, 
preservation, and destruction; he will wipe away our sorrows." 

Traces of an analogous belief in the death of a god having taken place, 
is also discernible in the mythology of the ancient Scandinavian nations. 
For, however the original theory of this fact may have been corrupted, I 
cannot but think, that the story concerning Balder related in the Edda, 
refers to the same subject which we have already seen has influenced the 
mythological systems of the Mexicans, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hindus, 
&c. At any rate, this fact is evident that Balder was a god, and he was 
slain by the evil designs of the evil principle- The whole story may be 
seen in the translation of the Edda annexed to the English translation of 
Mallet's Northn. Antiq. ii. 138, 149. We shall only give an abstract of 
the legend. 

Balder, who was the second son of Odin, was remarkable among the 
gods for the beauty of his person, and the excellency of his virtues. 

From a dream Balder found his life was exposed to iminent danger, 
and to avert the catastrophe the gods extracted an oath of immunity 
from every thing that they imagined could possibly hurt him. The mis- 
letoe plant, considered too insignificant to be brought under the influence 
of this universal oath, was alone disregarded. Loke, or the evil princi- 
ple, took advantage of the omission, and by an artifice through its means 
occasioned the death of Balder. "Surely," says the Edda, "never was 
seen among gods or men, a crime more shocking and atrocious than this." 

Balder having been thus slain, his mother Frigga offered the greatest 
rewards to any one that would go to hades, and offer a ransom that he 
should be restored to life. The perilous adventure was undertaken by 
Hermode son of Odin, and would have been happily accomplished but for 
the malice of Loke, who in the form of an old woman, of all things. 

* We subjoin the following account of Narayana, from the Institutes of 
Menu. (Sir Wm. Jones, vii. 92.) 

"The sole self existing power, having willed to produce various beings 
from his own divine substance, first, with a thought created the waters, and 
placed in them a productive seed. 

"That seed became an egg, bright as gold, blazing like the luminary with a 
thousand beams, and in that egg he was born himself, in the form of Brahma, 
the great forefather of all spirits. 

"The waters are called nara, because they were the production of Nara, or 
the spirit of God; and since they were his first ayana or place of motion, he 
thence is named Narayana or moving on the waters." 



484 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



whether animate or inanimate, alone refused to weep for the death of 
Balder. In consequence of this one omission, Balder was obliged to 
continue in hell or hades. 

Yet though the circumstance is not explained in the Edda, we learn 
that afterwards Balder ascended to heaven: for it is said, {Mallet, North. 
Antiq. ii. 70.) "He dwells in the city of Breidablick in heaven, and 
nothing impure can have admittance there. Balder has his palaces in 
Breidablick, and there I know are columns, upon which are engraved 
verses capable of recalling the dead to life." 

Though we yet have other matters to adduce in illustration of the 
present subject of investigation, it seems more convenient for us to come 
to some direct conclusion concerning what has been already produced. 
We may thus be enabled to use the advantage of a plausible theory, 
when hereafter discussing matters which otherwise would be involved in 
an unnecessary obscurity, did we postpone attempting to draw a conclu- 
sion until we had exhibited every view either direct or indirect in which 
our subject may be shewn. 

I think, therefore, it is impossible to doubt, that the pagan fables which 
we have collected together from the mythology of the Egyptians, Phoe- 
nicians, Greeks, Tartars, Hindus, Mexicans, &c. can have any other ba- 
sis or foundation, than in certain ideas more or less corrupted concerning 
the Messiah, and which, from the evident necessity of things, could only 
have been derived from a revelation possessed by the patriarchs. 

It is impossible that mankind could have ever adopted the extraordina- 
ry notion of the death and sacrifice of a deity, unless it had been origi- 
nally revealed unto them. The bare supposition of such a catastrophe 
would have appeared to defeat the very object of superstition, and I have 
no doubt, has in every age constituted the most material objection to that 
truth, which I believe was perfectly well known in the antediluvian and 
early postdiluvian ages. The fact appears to me so strongly depicted in 
what we have already exhibited, that I cannot apparently state it in strong- 
er words. That so many different pagan nations, the most remotely si- 
tuated from each other, and living in such different ages, should have 
agreed to consider that one of their most important deities had been put 
to death, is too extraordinary, not to have proceeded from that system of 
revelations connected with the history of the scriptures; and which abun- 
dantly shews, that the whole human race are, and have been at all times 
under one divine law and scheme of grace. 

Though I can hardly presume to think that any one professing to believe 
the scriptures, will object to the explanation we have given of this myste- 
rious sacrifice of deity; yet as the commonly received opinions concerning 
the nature of the patriarchal dispensation, do not admit that a light upon 
the doctrine of atonement was possessed by the patriarchs, in any degree 
equal to what we must now admit it to have been, I do not think it unne- 
cessary, therefore, to make a few observations in as brief a manner as pos- 
sible upon that subject. 

The common opinion concerning the religion of the patriarchs, is but a 
human conjecture founded upon certain peculiar expressions of the Bible, 
which when the secret principles of paganism were scarcely understood 
seemed plausible enough. It is impossible, however, at this day, after 
the subject has been so wonderfully examined, that we can continue un- 
der such an impression. The pagans did possess a knowledge of some of 
the most recondite truths of our divine religion, which it is impossible 
they ever received except through the prophets or patriarchs of the ages 
preceding the dispersion from Babel. 

With the knowledge which we now possessore feel justified in assert- 



OP THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 



485 



ing, that it is by no means necessary to eonsider that the few prophecies 
the scriptures have incorporated with the history of the patriarchal ages, 
were the only ones that God had communicated to man;* or, that these 
few, such as they have been preserved to us, were obscure or unintelligi- 
ble to them. By every principle of induction, Mr- Faber has established 
the view we have taken in his account of the Three Dispensations; and 
to his work we refer the reader desirous of light upon this interesting 
subject. There is but one point alone which we will attempt to establish. 

At the very time that sentence of death was passed upon our first pa- 
rents for their transgression, the evil spirit by whose immediate malice 
they had fallen, was pronounced accursed, and with the additional denun- 
ciation, that enmity should prevail between him, and a seed, or the seed of 
the woman, until at last he should be destroyed; or as metaphorically ex- 
pressed, he shall bruise thy head, though thou shall bruise his heel. 

Now, obscure as this prophecy may seem, it is nevertheless susceptible 
of an interpretation very intelligible, which we beg leave to state in the 
words of Mr. Faber. [Three Disp. i. 174.) 

"Man had recently fallen through disobedience: and the prophecy be- 
fore us, was delivered to him at his first interview with his Maker, subse- 
quent to his apostasy. Hence it wears a very peculiar character. It is 
not a mere insulated and detached prediction, which might have been de- 
livered at one time just as well as at another: but it bears immediately 
and directly upon the circumstances of the fall. While the agent of 
temptation is irrecoverably doomed to a low and abject condition, the 
seed of the injured woman is successfully to bruise his head, though in 
the conflict, the serpent should bruise his heel. Nor is it only that the 
prophecy stands immediately connected with the fall of our first parents: 
it is plainly no other than the inaugural discourse of that system of re- 
vealed religion, to which henceforth they were to be subject; it is plainly, 
as we now understand its meaning, the very corner stone of that only 
dispensation, which could be suitable to the wants of lost mankind. 

"Now, if it were wholly unintelligible to Adam and Eve, and their 
posterity after them, where was the utility of its being delivered to them? 

"A dispensation teaching the doctrine of redemption, was the only 
dispensation suitable to their wants." &c 

The same writer, in another page, continues this argument in the fol- 
lowing words. "The doctrine of redemption, in some shape or other, 
must needs form the basis of any religion that could be suitable to the 
state of a fallen creature; for separated from the hope of reconciliation, it 
is plain, that any approach to God on the part of such a creature, must 
be altogether useless and nugatory." 

But not to extend our views further upon the direct inferences that would 
be naturally made by our first parents upon the subject of the fall, and 
nature of their future religious obligations, we shall at once come to the 
point, by calling the reader's attention to the fact, that in the institution 
of animal sacrifices, the nature of the patriarchal covenant is very dis- 
tinctly exhibited. For as the mere putting an animal to death, cannot 
benefit those who take its life, therefore to have rendered the sacrifice 
acceptable, it must have been offered in faith. But the exercise of faith 
implies its direction to a religious end or purpose, and which it is idle to 
suppose was kept concealed from our first parents or their immediate pos- 
terity. We have, indeed, already shewn that the pagans have preserved, 

* Minute and extensive as the accounts are which are given by the evan- 
gelists of the preaching and miracles of our Saviour, yet they do not pre- 
tend to state every particular that they had heard or had witnessed. St.. John 
expressly declares it would have been an impossible undertaking. 
62 



486 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



though corruptedly, ideas of the true doctrinal character of the Messiah, 
and it is impossible they could have possessed this information, unless it 
had been the common doctrine of mankind previous to the dispersion from 
Babel. 

Nor is it an impertinent observation to add, that Adam and his immedi- 
ate children, were saved by the same means of grace and the same plan 
of salvation, with those who shall be the very last of his descendants;* 
and therefore, when the foundation of human religion was laid, it would 
seem that an absolute necessity existed, that man should understand the 
principle upon which alone he could be reconciled to his Maker. 

The doctrine of the atonement, and man's redemption, therefore con- 
stitute the substance of human religion, and which by the goodness of 
God becomes efficacious through an obedience to the moral law. In 
this form it undoubtedly existed as the religion of our first parents and 
the antediluvian world; until they corrupted themselves before God, who 
swept them away by the flood. 

When the earth began to be supplied with inhabitants after the flood, 
Noah and his immediate children communicated the true principles of re- 
ligion to their posterity, which with various rites and ceremonies, con- 
tinued the religious establishment of the whole human race, though 
again perverted and corrupted before the dispersion from Babel. The 
human family being then scattered abroad over the face of the earth, 
carried with them wherever they went their original principles, which in 
the lapse of ages they more and more corrupted, until they fell into the 
grossest idolatry. 

That idolatry had its origin in a corruption of the principles of true 
religion, is not only an absolutely necessary supposition arguing upon ge- 
neral principles alone, but we have inspired authority to infer the fact. 
St. Paul, (Romans, i. chap. 21 ver.) as Faber observes, does not charge 
idolatry as a sin of ignorance to the pagans, but says expressly, that they 
had once known the truth and had perverted its character. 

"Because, that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, 
neither were thankful; but became vain in their imagination, and their 
foolish heart was darkened. 

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; 

"And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God, into an image made 
like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping 
things." 

We shall now continue our illustrations of the mystical sacrifice of 
Huitzilopochtli, considering that we have a key to the superstition, which 
will enable us to bring together facts not only analogous in import, but 
confirming the views we have taken upon its original derivation. 

Though the facts we have produced, speak very intelligibly of the pri- 
mitive institution of these sacrifices of divinity, we are very little ac- 
quainted with the doctrine or theory the ancients held concerning the 
facts themselves. Among them all, this knowledge in after times, was 
reserved alone for those who had been initiated into those secret associa- 
tions, which under different names have been termed the mysteries of 
Isis, of Eleusis, &c. These mysteries, at a comparatively modern time, 
were imported into Greece; and when this people began to babble pub- 

* "From the time of the fall down to the termination of the world, man 
lives under one and the same system of divine grace: a system which was 
rendered necessary for him by the very circumstance of the fall, and 
which, therefore, at no one period can differ essentially from itself." (Fa- 
ber, Three. Disp. i. 1.) 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 487 



licly concerning their secret assemblies, they had not only appropriated 
the mysterious practices or doctrines to their own motley system of 
theology, but they had also perverted the mysterious meeting into a con- 
venience for debauchery and licentiousness. Yet as the ancient forms 
were preserved in greater or less degree of perfection, and certain rites, 
ceremonies, and doctrines, were avowed, we may still be able to glean 
some information, by examining the facts they have at different times 
communicated in their histories or philosophical writings. 

From a partial examination of the Greek relations concerning the mys- 
teries, learned men have at different times attempted to develop their se- 
cret purpose. But as far as I have been able to examine the writings of 
others, their endeavours have been attended with but partial success. 
Warburton, shewed (Div. Leg. of Moses,) that one end of the mysteries, 
was to teach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and a future state 
of rewards and punishment. These facts he did prove, though I consi- 
der his theory on the subject incorrect. Bryant, confining himself l.o but 
one particular, shewed that they commemorated certain events of the 
earlier history of man, and especially that of the history of the deluge 
and the patriarch Noah. Mr. Faber, has greatly enlarged our views. 
He chiefly agrees with Bryant, occasionally in the facts proved by War- 
burton, and has been the first, to my knowledge, to point out the funeral 
character* of the mysteries, which, however, I apprehend he has not suc- 
cessfully explained. 

I am inclined, therefore, after benefiting by the observations of these 
great writers, to consider myself justified in stating, that they have each 
proved but parts of the system. I consider the mysteries, originally, to 
have been entirely religious in their institution, and that the doctrines 
taught in them were for the most part represented scenically. If they 
commenced with teaching the origin of religious obligations, they would 
begin with the generation of mankind, with the history of the fall, the 
general corruption of our race, the deluge of Noah, and the consequent 
regeneration of our species. Such doctrinal truths are essentially con- 
nected with the history of individuals prominent in the ancient history of 
the world. Together with these facts, they communicated all the ab- 
stract matters of their credence, and such moral sentiments as would 
make men wiser and better. The next stage would be, to shew the con- 
sequence of a virtuous or vicious fife, which we feel justified to assert 
positively, was done by scenical representations of Hades, Tartarus, and 
the Elysian fields. In the introduction of such matters, an almost bound- 
less field was given to men of genius and intellectual apprehensions.! 
Whatever knowledge in the sublimer branches of physical science they 
may have possessed, could be here introduced with great effect, and the 
accounts we have of this subject, shew how deeply they had contrived 
every thing that might influence the imagination of the initiated. 

* "In the several mysteries of Bacchus, Adonis, Osiris, Ceres, Rhea, and 
the Cabiri, we uniformly find that some ancient personage was first bewailed 
as being dead, or as having descended into hades, and that afterwards his 
supposed revivification was celebrated with the most violent and frantic ex- 
pressions of joy. 1 ' (Faber, Myst. Cabiri.) 

I I am persuaded from an examination of the institutions of antiquity, that 
tragedy and the drama, arose from the scenical representations exhibited in 
the mysteries. The Greeks, indeed, attributed their origin to the rural cele- 
brations of the sacrifices of Dionysius or Bacchus. This I am not disposed to 
deny may have been the exciting cause of popular dramatic representations; 
because the subjects exhibited in the mysteries were religious, and were 
fcrbidden to be revealed to the uninitiated. But the obvious machinery by 



488 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



"Accessi," says Apuleus, describing the ceremonies that attended his 
initiation, "Accessi confinium mortis; et calcato Proserpinae limine, per 
omnia vectus elementa remeavi. Nocte media vidi solem candido corus- 
cantem lumine. Deos inferos et Does superos accessi coram et adoravi 
de proximo." 

As we consider the celebration of the ancient mysteries to have em- 
braced a variety of dhTerent subjects, we shall not state them to have had 
any one object particularly in view, other than, a religious tendency; 
which word religion, we use in its most extensive sense, as comprehend- 
ing every subject that a corrupted tradition, or evident morality, might 
suppose important to man's present or future happiness. 

We shall not, therefore, take any notice of those general doctrines, 
which appear to have been taught in the mysteries, further than as they 
are connected with our present subject of research. 

Among the more important doctrines of the mysteries, it is evident, 
that they largely discussed matters concerning the immortality of the 
soul, and the different future conditions of the good and the vicious. This 
when we consider the feelings of those initiated, must ever have been es- 
teemed the most important part of these mystic ceremonies. Every one 
had a personal interest in this part of the subject, while other objects 
would rather appear matters of curiosity. 

Hence, we have the following observations upon the purport of the 
mysteries preserved in many of the ancient writers. According to an old 
author preserved by Stobceus, (Div. Leg. i. 235,) it is stated, "The mind 
is affected in death just as it is in the initiation into the grand mysteries. 
And word answers to word, as well as thing to thing, for TEAETTA 
is to die, and TEAEI20AI is to be initiated" Sgc. 

The Scholiast upon Aristophanes, (Ranse) observes, "It was believed 
by the Anthenians, that he who was initiated and instructed in the mys- 
teries, should obtain divine honours after death, and therefore they all ran 
to be initiated." 

Plato, says, it was a doctrine of the mysteries, that those who died with- 
out being initiated, stuck fast in mire and filth, but that he who was puri- 
fied and initiated, at his death, should have his habitation with the gods.* 

Proclus, in his book entitled, "Ten Doubts concerning Providence," in- 
forms us, that the mysteries evince, that certain persons are punished for 
the crimes of their progenitors, and that the gods who preside over expia- 

which the religious scenical exhibitions were executed, was the cause that 
an application was made of the same instrumentalities in representing popu- 
lar and familiar subjects. So closely did Aeschylus, the father of the Greek 
tragedy, press upon the representations of the sacred mysteries, that he 
nearly lost his life for the supposed impiety. 

Theatres, were supposed to be under the protection of Dionysius, and were 
from him called Aiovutfjaxa. (Potter's Greek Jiniiq. i. 41.) And we are fur- 
ther informed by Diod Sic. lib. 4. chap. I, that Dionysius or Bacchus invent- 
ed plays and erected theatres. This information is in exact accordance with 
what is observed above; for the mysteries of Dionysius were among the most 
renowned celebrations of the Greeks. 

In like manner, after the first establishment of Christianity, and in imita- 
tion of the pagans, religious dramas were performed before the public of a si- 
milar nature, and which only changed subjects, being still technically called 
Mysteries, as if to perpetuate their ancient original. 

* When Diogenes the Cynic, was urged by his friends to be initiated into 
the mysteries of Eleusis, that his condition after death might be happy; he is 
reported to have said. What! shall Agesilaus and Epaminondas be among 
mud and dung, while the vilest Athenians, because they have been initialed, shall 
possess the most distinguished places in the regions of the blessed? 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 489 



tiona, Xutfioi &soi, free offending souls from such punishment." (Pausanias^ 
(Trans) iii. 297. Notes.) 

The same doctrine and notion of regeneration by means of the myste- 
ries, prevailed in those of Attis, as is evident from the institutions of the 
Taurobolium and Criobolium. Thus we have an ancient inscription, 
(Faber, Myst. Cabiri, ii. 351.) 

DIIS. MAGNIS. 
MATRI. DEUM. ET. ATTIDI. 
TAUROBOLIO. CRIOBOLIOQ.UE. IN. 
JETERNUM. RENATUS. &C. 

In what manner this supposed regeneration of the mysteries was per- 
fected among the initiated, or by what rite or ceremony it was consum- 
mated, it is impossible for us to state. It certainly was not attained by 
the observance of any moral precepts; for on this subject the mysteries 
could not have increased their knowledge; mere morality is a subject con- 
cerning which no conscientious man can commit any mistake. He can al- 
ways treat others in a manner such as he would wish them to treat him, 
and however much he may fall short of this rule in his practice, I believe, 
no individual ever lived, who was insensible to the dictates of conscience 
upon this subject. 

I apprehend, therefore, that some peculiar rite, ceremony, or supersti- 
tions, was practised during the celebration of the mysteries, that commu- 
nicated this prejudice to the initiated in some symbolical or tangible form, 
but of whose precise nature we cannot directly conjecture. 

I should think, the most probable exhibition would be in the form of a 
sacrifice, in which the whole body of the initiated could partake; and sacri- 
fices we know, did constitute a part of the mysterious celebration. Yet 
simple sacrifice, was a part of the common public religion of all the an- 
cient nations, and the mere rite of sacrifice was universally practised with- 
out any initiation into the mysteries. 

Perhaps the history of Huitzilopochtli will assist our research. In the 
Mexican superstition, the god himself was sacrificed, and the people com- 
muned on his emblematical body. Now, is it possible, that this was done 
in the celebration of the ancient mysteries of Osiris, Adonis, Attis, &c? 
Without venturing to assert the fact positively, we can, nevertheless, state 
that something more or less analogous appears to have been practised. 

"Both in the orgies of Bacchus," (Bryant, Anal. And. Mythol. ii. 12,) 
and in the rites of Ceres, as well as of other deities, one part of the mys- 
teries consisted in a ceremony called, u^ocpayia, (eating of raw flesh,) at 
which time, they eat flesh quite crude with the blood. In Crete, at 
the Dionusiaca, they used to tear the flesh with the teeth from the animal 
when alive. This they did in commemoration of Dionysius. In the island 
of Chios, it was a religious custom to tear a man limb from limb, by way 
of a sacrifice to Dionusius. The same practice prevailed in Tenedos. It 
is Prophyry who gives the account. He was a staunch pagan, and his 
evidence on that account is of consequence." 

Arnobius informs us, (Banter, Mythol, ii. 81,) that during the celebra- 
tion of the mysteries of the Cabiri, one of the initiated was put to death. 
But this I consider a mistake. The sacrifice of a man may have been 
scenically represented, either on the person of a living man, or by means 
of a statue or figure representing the hero god of the mysteries; but that 
one of the initiated should have been put to death is incredible. 

Similar rites prevailed among the Druids of Britain, whose mysteries 
we are informed by Dionysius, Strabo, &c. (Davies, Mythol. Brit. 
Druids, 89,) were celebrated with rites similar to those of Bacchus, and 
the orgies of Samothrace. Strabo informs us, that once a year, in a par- 



490 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



ticular part of Britain, it was the custom of the women to worship Bac- 
chus. One part of their ceremony was to unroof the temple, and again 
to renew the covering- the same day before sunset by the united labours 
of all the women. If any one of them dropped or lost the burden she 
was carrying to complete the sacred work, she was torn in pieces by the 
rest, and the several limbs of their unhappy companion they carried round 
the temple with rejoicings proper to the solemnities of Bacchus. Of this 
cruel rite, Strabo says, there always happened some instance, whenever 
the annual solemnities were celebrated. (Dairies, Mythol. B. Druids, 169.) 

Such rites as Strabo has described, would soon have put an end to 
these frantic orgies. He certainly must have misunderstood the relation 
made to him. I therefore presume that something analogous to this sup- 
posed dilaceration was exhibited, and by consent of the initiated, the lot 
may have fallen upon the first one to whom any accident occurred. That 
the dilaceration was literal, it is impossible to believe; for who would 
have ever risked an initiation into such mysteries? 

I apprehend we have as far as our opportunity permits, plausibly shewn, 
that a human sacrifice was either made scenically in the person of a liv- 
ing man, or by means of an artificial statue suitably decorated. With 
great propriety, therefore, the Mexicans made their statue of such sub- 
stances as could be eaten; for being a gross people in their general prac- 
tices, they did not regard with any disgust the portion of blood which 
united the composition together; and which in an evident manner signi- 
fied its typical constitution. The practices of the Hindus in their cele- 
bration of the Purushamed'ha, implies a similar notion; for we are told 
this ceremony could be only performed emblematically, "it being neces- 
sary to eat the sacrifice, yet no one could be required to eat human flesh," 
&c * 

*The celebration of the Purushamed'ha, as directed in the Yajush Veda, 
(Moor, Hindu Panth. 366,) is an allegorical exhibition of the immolation of 
Narayana. It consists in binding one hundred and eighty-five men of vari- 
ous specified tribes, characters, and professions, to eleven' posts; and after 
the hymn concerning Purushu has been recited, these human victims are 
liberated unhurt, and oblations of butter are made on the sacrificial fire. 
This method of performing the Purushamed'ha, as an emblematical ceremo- 
ny, and not as a real sacrifice, is taught in this Veda; and-fhe interpretation 
is fully confirmed by the rituals and by commentators, one of whom assigns 
as a reason, "because the flesh of victims which have been actually sacrificed 
at a Yajnya, must be eaten by the persons who offer the sacrifice; but a man 
cannot be allowed, much less be required, to eat human flesh." 

The preceding doctrine would, therefore, inevitably lead to the practice of 
making emblematical figures like those of the Mexicans. Hence, in the 
sanguinary chapter of the Calica Pura.v, (As. Res. v. 376,) it is expressly 
said: "where the sacrifice of lions, of tigers, or of the human species, is re- 
quired, having made the image of the lion, tiger, or human shape, with but- 
ter, paste, or barley meal, let them sacrifice the same as if living victims, &c. 

Nothing is better known, than that the ancients instead of sacrificing men 
and animals, at all times, used continually images or figures for this purpose 
made from various substances The practice was also of the greatest an- 
tiquity. Thus in Egypt, Amasis made a lav/, that only figures of men, should 
be offered in sacrifice; and Hercules, in Italy, substituted waxen heads, called 
Oscilla, instead of real men, (Banier .JMythol. i. 261.) The poorer Greeks 
were allowed to offer an image of an ox made of flour, (Potter, Antiq. i. 219 ) 
The Egyptians also, according to Herodotus, lib. ii. ch. 47, did the same. 
Hyde (Rcl. Vtt. Pets. 254,) says, the Persians at a particular festival, "con- 
hciebant ex pasta aut htto imagines, casque it) cornpitis colocantes, eis omnia 
servitia praestabant sicut regibus fieri solebal: et deinde easdem combure- 
bant " 



OP THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 4 1> 1 



We have shewn that the people of Guatemala, the Peruvians, and the 
old Sabeans, pages 241, 313,394, performed a religious service, with cere- 
monies which we do not doubt were further corruptions of the original prac- 
tice, or rather more obscurely understood. I think, however, that these 
facts will tend to shew, how natural it would be to make a similar sym- 
bolical sacrificial food of more palatable materials, and such, I am inclined 
to consider were the numerous cakes, used in the secret mysteries of the 
ancient pagans, who going still farther than the others we have mention- 
ed, not only made them symbolical, but used them as dainties.* We have 
some reason to infer their typical character, from the fact I have seen 
quoted from Clem. Alexand., who says, the cakes used in the celebration 
of the Eleusinian mysteries were moulded into the shape of parts of the 
human body. 

I think, therefore, from our preceding investigation, we are justified in 
believing that one part, and that deemed a most important part of the an- 
cient mysteries, was employed in representing more or less distinctly, the 
sacrificial death and revivification of one of their divinities; and so appa- 
rently was this feature exhibited, that Mr. Faber, (Myst. Cab. ii. 341,) 
observes, "Julius Firmicus joins together with great propriety the mys- 
teries of Bacchus, Proserpine, Attis, Osiris, &c. describing them all as 
equally mournful, and equally commemorative of some supposed death." 

The fact itself is so explicitly stated, that it cannot be set aside. "Ju- 
lius Firmicus {Faber, myst. Cabiri, ii. 353,) says, a statue was laid out 
upon a couch as if dead, and was bewailed with the bitterest lamenta- 
tions. When a sufficient space of time had been consumed in all the 
mock solemnity of wo, lights were introduced, and the hierophant slow- 
ly chaunted the following distich: 

©appsi<rs pvgai <rs @ss tfsaW/xsvs 
Egai yap vjfjuv sx -sjovojv tfwT-/)pia 
Translated by Faber, 

Courage ye Mystse, lo our God is safe, 
And all our troubles speedily shall end.f 
But my idea of the ancient mysteries is not limited to the belief that they 
had this one signification alone- They undoubtedly embraced a variety 
of other events, both moral and physical, interesting to the history of 
mankind, to develop which, would require a work of equal magnitude 
with our whole book. I shall therefore say nothing further on this sub- 
ject than I can possibly help. 

I do not apprehend the views we have taken more than partially affect 
those of Warburton, Bryant, and Faber. I consider they have each ex- 
hibited a part of the system, and I have added another part. I may in 
some instances apply particular facts in a manner different from them; 
or rather, have exhibited them in a double or triple view, which, I appre- 
hend is the light in which the ancients originally employed them. In 
other words, we yet preserve a sufficient part of the ancient allegorizing 
spirit of mythology, to understand their doctrines of the transmigrating 
system, the key to which is, that they supposed the world subject to pe- 
riodical catastrophes, which destroying or absorbing all created things, 
again produced them in a succeeding age or period in the same forms, 

* Bryant (Jlnal. Jlnc. Mythol. i. 297, 298,) gives a long list of these sacred 
cakes, which involve some very curious considerations. 

f Though a very indifferent Greek scholar, I venture to suggest that this 
last line should have been rendered, thus: Now there is for us deliverance 
from misery (or distress.) 



492 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



persons, and characters, such as they had previously existed. This sub* 
ject has been largely exhibited by Faber, [Orig. Idol. i. 160, &c.) 

These facts, as far as one instance may be deemed important in our 
present investigation, may be furnished in the history of Osiris. Many 
parts of his allegorical history shew him in the character of Adam, or the 
first man. A second part of his character has been successfully demon- 
strated by Bryant and Faber, to be that of the patriarch Noah, and I 
trust, I have shewn a third part to involve a corrupted notion of the Mes- 
siah; which I cannot doubt, was a doctrine once well known in the pa- 
triarchal ages. The Egyptians constantly represented the allegorical 
history of Osiris in these different aspects; of which his character as 
Adam and Noah, seem to be already established by the writings of others. 
I will introduce as briefly as possible, the facts that induce me to think, 
they sufficiently well recognised his triplicated character in their myste- 
rious rites, and which I apprehend will relieve the theory of Bryant and 
Faber from the weight of an unexplained fact. 

Considering, therefore, that Bryant and Faber have sufficiently esta- 
blished the mluvian character of Osiris, and thus identified him with 
Noah, though also in the character of Adam, [Faber, Orig. Idol,'\i. 246,) 
a peculiarity that is to be observed in most of the hero gods of antiquity; 
what is more natural than that the ancients, if they had any notion of the 
Messiah, should consider this transmigrating personage, who, according 
to the systems of paganism, always commenced every creation or renova- 
tion of the world, to have also appeared or would appear as the Messiah, 
who would be the greatest of renovators? Hence, in the whole allegori- 
cal history of this transmigrating personage, they would connect what- 
ever might be peculiar in the last character or function, with whatever 
circumstances they supposed had distinguished his past appearances. 

That such was the real doctrine of the ancient pagans, there can be 
little doubt; but as we wish to be as brief as possible, we shall only adduce 
a similar opinion of the Jews themselves to substantiate our position. 
"The Rabbins teach us, that the soul of Adam successively migrated 
from his body into other bodies; and that as that soul had already entered 
into the body of David, so it would hereafter pass into the body of the 
Messiah." [Faber, Orig. Idol, iii. 301.) 

In the history of Osiris, the doctrines blending together the history of 
Noah and the Messiah I think can be easily separated. The great 
father Adam, transmigrating in Noah, was surprised by Typhon, or the 
evil principle, and was thrown into the sea in a chest, or the ark, out of 
which he was taken by Isis. But I cannot see any connexion with 
Noah, in his being a second time subjected to the power of Typhon, who 
cut his body in pieces, and scattered his members over the world. To 
this circumstance the history of Noah affords no parallel, but it will bear 
a comparison with the death of the Messiah, as well as the supposed 
descent of Osiris to hades and his future revivification, which seems to 
point out that doctrine in a very particular manner. 

But seemingly, the confirmation of these views with respect to the two 
triumphs of Typhon or the evil principle over Osiris, is distinctly express- 
ed by the practices of the Egyptians themselves, who in a double cere- 
mony commemorated the history of Osiris. 

One of these celebrations was held in the spring of the year, when 
Osiris was supposed to enter the moon [sig <r*]v SijXifjviijv) the other cele- 
bration was in the autumn, when he was enclosed in a coffin (sis 2opov.) 

The moon was certainly a marked hieroglyphic of the ark, and so far 
Osiris may be recognised as Noah. But it is begging the question alto- 
gether, to consider the coffin (sopo?) also a symbol of the ark. 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 493 



One thing is certain; Plutarch says, [Faber, hi. 123,) that in the myste- 
ries of Isis and Osiris, the image of a dead man was carried about in a 
coffin, which person however was thought to be afterwards restored to life. 
Now, to express such an idea, I presume, no symbol could be as signifi- 
cantly used as the coffin. 

That this latter exhibition was understood in the sense for which we 
contend, is justified in the fact, that Athenagoras and Julius Firmicus, 
[Faber, Orig. Pag- Idol. hi.. 124,) ridiculed the absurdity of the Egyp- 
tians, "who first bewail the death and burial of Osiris, and then exulting 
at his supposed revival, offer sacrifices to him as a god. 

My impression, therefore, is, that in the allegorical character of Osiris, 
the Egyptians commemorated a mythological personage whom they sup- 
posed had existed as the first man or Adam, who had transmigrated in the 
person of Noah, and who would appear again as the great restorer of hap- 
piness on earth in that character which we technically denominate the 
Messiah; concerning whom they had a tradition more or less corrupted 
from the earliest ages of the world. 

As the scope of our whole subject is of a highly interesting nature, we 
shall proceed to establish our view of this triple character of the chief 
hero divinities of antiquity, by an exhibition of the history or character of 
Prometheus; a personage we have hitherto but mentioned, and then re- 
ferred his history to a future page. 

Prometheus, in like manner as Osiris, exhibits the two characters of 
Adam and Noah sufficiently distinct in the apprehension of many mythol- 
ogists; of whom we may especially mention Vossius, Gale, Bryant, and 
Faber; but there is a remarkable event in the history of Prometheus, 
which, with Mr. Faber, ( Three Dispens. i. 342,) I think, can be referred to 
nothing but a traditional history of the promised Messiah; and in connexion 
with certain particulars that seem so extraordinary, that we are almost 
ready to doubt the evidence of our senses in this matter. 

The Greek poet Aeschylus, who lived B. C. 500, has exhibited Prome- 
theus in one of his tragedies, as bound to a rock of mount Caucasus by 
order of Jupiter, where he suffers the greatest torments. For what crime 
this punishment was inflicted, the reader may be surprised to learn in the 
soliloquies of Prometheus when thus exposed and suffering. This we shall 
extract from Potter's translation of Aeschylus. [Prometheus Chained.) 

Strength. * * * At Jove's command, 
Fix to these high projecting rocks, this vain 
Artificer of man. ***** 
Bind them (the manacles) around his hands with all thy force, 

Strike, nail them fast, drive them into the rock. 

****** 

Downward with all thy force enring his legs, 
Strike hard, drive deep their penetrating points. 

% '■■$}. ' ^ •!v?::*J' ; - / *'''...'*"', * * " ." 

Prometheus. * * * See what, a god, 
I suffer from the gods, with what fierce pains 
Behold, what tortures for revolving ages 
I here must struggle. * * * * 
Ah me, that groan bursts from my anguished rnartj 
My present woes and future to bemoan; 
When shall these sufferings find their destin'd end? 
But why that vain inquiry? My clear sight 
Looks through the future, unforeseen no ill 
Shall come on me, behooves me then to bear 
63 



494 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



Patient my destin'd fate. 

* * * For favours shewn 

To mortal man I bear this weight of wo: 

Hid in a hollow cave, the fount of fire 

I privately conveyed, of every art 

Productive, and noblest gift to men. 

And for this slight offence, wo, wo is me, 

1 bear these chains, fixed to this savage rock. 

* - * * * * * , . : o . • V.-'i. -, 

Ye see me bound, a wretched god, abhor'd 
By Jove and every god that treads his courts, 
For my fond love to man. 

* * * Jove for unhappy mortals 
Had no regard, and all the present race 
WhTd to extirpate, and to form a new, 
None save myself oppos'd his will. I dared, 
And boldly pleading, sav'd them from destruction; 
Sav'd them from sinking- to the realms of night. 
For this offence I bend beneath these pains, 
Dreadful to suffer, piteous to behold: 

For mercy to mankind I am not deem'd 
Worthy of mercy; but with ruthless hate 
In this uncouth appointment am fix'd here. 

* * * Of these things 

I was not unadvis'd; and my offence 
Was voluntary; in man's cause I drew 
These evils on my head. 

None of these extraordinary expressions can be applied to the charac- 
ters of Adam or Noah, and are only applicable to the Messiah, whose par- 
ticular salvation of man, and simultaneous bodily suffering, seem to be dis- 
tinctly discernible in this piece of corrupted tradition or mythology; for 
we must bear in mind, that ancient paganism was continually corrupting 
further and further from original principles, by all those various causes 
that human weakness or ingenuity, have in all ages constantly brought to 
bear on speculative opinions. 

I consider that in this very tragedy of Aeschylus, a very remarkable 
corruption is expressed; for he, from some motive or other I am unable 
to detect, represents Prometheus to have been fastened to a cliff of Mt. 
Caucasus. But Hesiod, the oldest of all the Greek writers, says, he was 
fastened to a pillar, (fjistfov dice xiov) (Theog. I. 522.) 

Now this very remarkable legend of Hesiod's, it appears to me, may 
give us the key to certain ancient idolatrous practices, concerning which 
I have never seen even a plausible idea thrown out by any analyst of an- 
cient mythology. 

As the legendary history of Prometheus was known long before the 
time of Aeschylus, we perceive nothing in the Greek tragedy shewing the 
invention of that poet, beyond his dramatising a traditional history already 
known to the Greeks. If Prometheus, therefore, according to Hesiod, 
was supposed to have been bound to a pillar, and then used a language 
analogous to that employed by Aeschylus, there can hardly be a doubt, 
that his history involves a distinct though corrupted view of the character 
of the Messiah, and, what appears very singular, would seem to imply the 
very nature of his personal suffering. But can it be supposed, that such 
a precise knowledge was possessed in the patriarchal ages concerning the 
Messiah, as such an opinion would require? Bold as the position may 



OP THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 495 



seem, I think, we have sufficient information from pagan history, if not 
conclusive enough to establish the fact, at any rate plausible enough, to 
exempt us from the charge of being led away by faint analogies in mak- 
ing such an inference. 

As I think we have already shewn sufficient reason to establish the 
fact, that the doctrinal history of the Messiah, as a divinity sacrificially 
put to death, was known to the patriarchal ages, there can be no great 
difficulty to overcome, if we suppose the revelation that had been made 
on this subject to the antediluvian patriarchs, or to Noah, had also com- 
municated the fact, if it were in no more precise terms than that the sa- 
crificial death of the Messiah, should be accomplished by a painful and ig- 
nominious punishment. I say such an intimation, if the express fact was 
not revealed, which I do not consider improbable, would lead men in spe- 
culating upon such a revelation, to have anticipated it would be accom- 
plished by crucifixion or impaling. It is rather singular, that both 
these punishments are expressed by the ancients in one term,* though 
they have generally shewn us they well understood the difference. 

By all writers on the origin of idolatry it is universally admitted, that 
the first idolatrous objects raised by men were pillars,f yet why a pillar? 
this object conveys no significant idea, unless by its association with some 
fact or theory whose connexion with the monument is arbitrary? Some 
persons suppose that it was through ignorance of the art of carving that 
a pillar was first employed, and that as soon as greater refinement pre- 
vailed, men first cut a head on its summit, and gradually made a perfect 
statue. But surely all this is begging the question; for I apprehend, we 
have shewn that the earlier postdiluvian ages, in which idolatry com- 
menced, were not barbarous or ignorant, but intellectual to a very consi- 
derable degree; and debased or ignorant as we can suppose it possible 
they may have been, yet they certainly could not be lower in the intel- 
lectual scale, than the barbarian Americans, the islanders of the Pacific 
ocean, or the negroes of Africa; none of which have ever lacked suffi- 
sient ingenuity to make a god from wood, clay, or stone, in the shape of a 
man. 

But in the earliest record of human transactions, we have the history 
of idolatrous pillars entirely detached from any such supposed progress of 
idolatrous corruption. In the Bible we have this point distinctly stated. 

The Jews were expressly commanded to destroy the altars, the pic- 
tures, the graven images, and the pillars, (matzaubeh) of the idolatrous 
Canaanites. It is true, that we do not precisely know what these mat- 
zaubeh were, and in our translation of the scriptures, the word is some- 
times rendered pillars, and sometimes statues according to the notions 
of the translators. Let us therefore see in what sense the word is used. 
As I have no Hebrew concordance, I labour under the great disadvantage 
of being obliged to seek the different words in an English concordance, 
and then to examine the Hebrew text; a work so laborious, that I hope I 

*The following quotation sufficiently explains the fact, if it be of any con- 
sequence to substantiate the assertion of the text. "Crucifixion being un- 
known to the Hindus, they have of course no name for it; and Sula or Suli, 
originally a stake, signifies also a gibbet or the cross, exactly like Stauros in 
Greek. It is so even in the Persian language, and so it was among the Ro- 
mans. According to Seneca, crucifixion signified both impaling and extend- 
ing the arms upon a cross bar, for these two modes of punishment were 
equally in use among them, a circumstance very little known." {As. Res. x. 

it) 

1 2r/j\a£ rs' Jcai p%35oig "pillars and slaves." (Sanconialhon.) 



496 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



may be excused should any other than the more obvious renderings be 
overlooked. 

Numbers xxxiii, 52; "destroy all their pictures, (QJ'V^tJ^) destroy all 
their molten images," (QrODD ana " quite pluck down all their 

high places, orn^s)- 

Dent. vii. 5; "Ye shall destroy their altars, (t~\?V> hhl?^) break 
down their images, (it should be pillars, Q j-Qi/Dl) an ^ cut Qown ^en- 
graves; (Qil*V^K*)) ana " Durn tne i r graven images (OrP^DDI) 
with fire." 

From the preceding enumeration, we find that the Canaanites paid 
idolatrous reverence to images, pictures, altars, groves, and pillars; thus 
shewing, that as they were acquainted with the use of images, that the 
pillars had an independent signification of their own. But there are two 
Hebrew words that are rendered pillars in our translation, the correct 
understanding of which is of material importance in our present investi- 
gation. 

That the idolatrous pillars, (matzaubeh) were not architectural, is very 
evident, for the word ^]'Q^-> ( a *nod) is constantly used to express 
them, as for instance, Sampson between the two pillars; Judges xvi. 25, 
26,29- Pillars of the tabernacle; Exod. xxxvi, 32,37, 38. xxxviii, 10, 
11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17. Pillars of Solomon's temple; i. King's vii. 15, 
16, 17, 21, and also metaphorically, "the pillars of the earth;" Job ix, 6. 
xxvi, 11. Psalm lxxv. 5, &c these are all expressed by amod. 

But the idolatrous pillars, (called steles by the 70, as they also do all 
other columns) are always expressed by matzaubeh, or matzauboth. This 
word, however, is used in other places to express the idea of a memorial 
pillar or monument. Thus the pillar of Jacob at Beth-el, the pillar 
over Rachel's grave, Absalom's pillar. Moses built an altar and twelve 
pillars, as memorial of the twelve tribes, &c. Exod. xxiv, 4. (these the 
70 translate Xi&oig, not steles.) 

These idolatrous pillars continued for a long time in Jewish history, 
for Jehoram removed the matzaubeh of Baal, translated improperly image, 
2d Kings, iii. 2. And in 2d Kings, x. 26, by the direction of Jehu, "they 
brought forth the matzaubeh of the house of Baal, and burnt it, and 
they "broke in pieces the matzaubeh of Baal." Our translators render it 
the images of Baal, but the 70 properly call them steles, pillars. 

We therefore concur with Parkhurst, that the idolatrous matzaubeh, 
were "sacred memorial pillars," most probably the same as the obelisks 
of the Egyptians, Babylonians, &c. The next question is, what was 
their real use or import, or how were they religiously memorial. If we 
can admit with Hesiod, that Prometheus, whose character as the Messiah 
we have already shewn, was bound to an obelisk or pillar, we may then 
determine that this was their original intention, and apparently we have 
some reasons to urge in justification of such an idea. It has been sup- 
posed the obelisks were for astronomic uses, but considering the high per- 
fection of astronomic science in these remote periods, this is very unlike- 
ly; for it was well known at an early period, that the shadow cast by the 
obelisk would make an error of the semidiameter of the sun, and hence 
Pliny has commemorated the Roman emperor, who placed a round ball on 
the top of an obelisk that had been carried to Rome, which then qualified 
it for astronomical use. But as none of the ancient obelisks have this 
ball upon their summits, we cannot suppose this to have been their origi- 
nal use; otherwise, the head of the obelisk would have been cut with a 
ball at the top, instead of being made sharp like a stake. 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 497 



I know of no ancient writer but Lucian, who has informed us of any 
use to which the obelisks were applied.* He has communicated to us 
the following singular relation. 

In the vestibule of the temple at Hierapolis, which Syrian tradition as- 
serted had been built by Deucalion, stood two obelisks, which were sup- 
posed to have been erected by Bacchus. Lucian calls them Phalli, and 
informs us they were used at particular seasons, for the following singu- 
lar purpose. 

"Twice a year a man gets upon one of these phalli, and stays on the top 
of it seven days, for which various reasons are assigned. The prevailing 
opinion is, that he goes up to converse with the gods and pray for the 
good of Syria, when being so much nearer to them, he has the better 
chance for making them hear what he says. Some suppose it done to 
keep in remembrance the calamitous days of Deucalion, when men fled 
to the mountains, and climbed up trees to escape being drowned. These 
opinions to me, seem equally improbable, and I rather think, it is done in 
honour of Bacchus, because, every phallus erected, has a wooden man 
placed upon it; indeed I do not know why: but I believe it is in imitation 
of this, that the living man mounts so high; and this is his manner of doing 
it, &c. My climber takes up with him another long chain, which, when 
he has got to the top he throws down for the purpose of drawing up wood, 
clothes, vessels, or whatever materials he likes to make a seat with. This 
seat, or rather nest, is to be his habitation for the space of seven days, 
during which time, gold or silver, or brass at least, is brought by the peo- 
ple, and laid down for him to see it. Whoever brings any thing leaves 
his name, which a man in waiting below reports to him above, that every 
one in turn may have the benefit of his prayers, which he accompanies 
with a loud noise made by striking an ill tuned instrument of brass." 
(Carr's Lucian, Syrian goddess, 743) 

If Lucian rejected the explanations given at Hierapolis concerning the 
meaning of this extraordinary practice, surely we may as naturally set 
them aside as unsatisfactory. Yet, nevertheless, the ceremony was a 
religious rite, the direct inference of which seems to me, to imply that the 
priest when seated on the sharp point of the obelisk, was considered espe- 
cially, in the character of a mediator between gods and men. 

That it was the remarkable position, alone, of the priest on the summit 
of the obelisk, which in the prejudice of the people rendered his prayers 
peculiarly acceptable, there can be no reason to doubt; for the pagans 
have universally believed in the omnipresence of Deity as absolutely as 
ourselves, and therefore in the ceremony at Hierapolis, the Syrians must 
have had some arbitrary hypothesis on that subject, entirely independent 
of ordinary ideas of worshipping their gods. 

Is the superstition then gratuitous, that they originally intended to 
typically represent the office and personal suffering of the great Media- 
tor, whom they may have thus emblematically represented as being im- 
paled on the top of the obelisk? I shall bow respectfully to the opinion 
that learned and ingenious men may hereafter give of this extraordinary 
practice; but when I consider what has been directly or indirectly ex- 
hibited even in this treatise on the subject, I cannot hesitate to express 
my present belief, that the ceremony at Hierapolis was founded on some 
traditional knowledge of the history and office of the Messiah. I do not 
pretend to say, that they had retained any such knowledge in their idola- 
trous system, but that they continued to practise a superstitious ceremo- 
ny, whose original signification had been long forgotten. 

*No etymology of the word obelisk has reached us which appears to pos- 
sess any significance, the Greek word means a spit. 



498 



INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER 



This relation of Lucian also destroys the notion that the obelisks ori- 
ginally represented the phallus, though in a latter day the ancients did 
affix that signification to the monument, though probably in the first in- 
stance only allegorically. 

But, the god Bacchus, whose dilaceration, whose descent to hades, and 
whose revivification, we have already considered as a corruption of the 
primitive doctrine concerning the Messiah, is here, by Lucian expressly 
stated, to be commonly represented as a wooden figure of a man, upon 
an obelisk or pillar, "the reason of which" he says, "he did not know."* 
If these pillars had represented phalli, the deity would not have been on 
the top, but at the bottom of the monument. 

These obelisks or pillars were of the most ancient idolatrous purpose. 
Belus and Semiramis erected them at Babylon, and as far back as anti- 
quity can be examined, they were found in Phoenicia, Syria, and Egypt. 
Nor have I any doubt that the matzaubeh of the Canaanites, which the 
Jews were ordered to destroy, were of a similar use and intention. The 
etymology of the Lexicons alone, would justify such an opinion; yet I 
apprehend we are in possession of a statement made by an ancient pagan, 
which will throw some further light upon the subject. 

In a dispute between two French philosophers, concerning the use of 
the obelisks, which was referred to the Academy of Inscriptions, they 
take notice of a passage of Josephus, (Contra Apion, lib. ii. ch. 2,) where 
he quotes Apion, who says, Moses was from Heliopolis in Egypt, and 
that after arriving in Palestine, among other innovations, "instead of 
obelisks, (o§sXwv)he elevated columns, which stood in a kind of boat or 
basin, upon whose summit was a figure or head of a man, whose shadow 
exhibited the course of the sun." {Acad, des Inscrip. ii. 276.) 

Though I differ with the Academy concerning the original purpose of 
these columns, they very correctly state, that though Josephus refutes 
the charge made by Apion, it is only so far as concerns Moses, and not 
as regards the fact itself; which they consider to have been astronomical, 
and such as had been used at Heliopolis. But I apprehend that Apion 
was much nearer the truth than the Academy supposed, and that he al- 
luded to the matzaubeh, or idolatrous pillars of the land of Canaan. His 
mistake consisted in ascribing them to Moses, and the Jews, who pos- 
sessed the country at a later period. But they were of a much greater 
antiquity; for the Israelites were particularly charged to destroy them, 
and then only because they were idolatrous objects, and not scientific 
instruments. 

Thus in an unexpected manner it would seem to me, we have attained 
to a knowledge of the matzaubeh of the Canaanites, by which it appears, 
they were sacred memorial pillars, which had the figure of a man placed 

* As I consider this statement of Lucian's to be very important, I subjoin 
the Greek quotation, as correct as I am able to decipher the ligatures of an 
old edition. (Bourdelotius.) 

Ev <ro\<ji paXXoitfr xcci av<5pa£ %v\ivxg xaGiQxtfi, orsv (xsv sivsxa syu ow 
spsw; doxssi Si wv jxoi xa» oSs eg sxsivx (xj^sliv «ros f;uXivs avSpog 

On the Phalli (erects d to Bacchus,) wooden men are placed, though for what 
reason I do not know. It is, however, in imitation of these wooden men that the man 
is sent up, (i. e. the obelisk at Hierapolis.) 

It was no doubl from these practices, that those fanatics called stylites or 
pillar saints, of the first ages of Christianity derived their origin. It was an 
ancient pa°:an rite, in a christian dress, and which Mosheim states as an 
almost incredible fact, continued to be practised until the twelfth century. 



OF THE AGES PRECEDING THE DISPERSION. 499 



on their tops, and which the history of the obelisks at Hierapolis, and the 
mention of a similar practice by the worshippers of Bacchus, as recorded 
by Lucian, justifies the belief, that the figures on their summits was that 
of a god! I apprehend the whole view too extraordinary to admit of a 
solution differing from the one we have already made. 

It will be carrying our views upon this general subject very little out 
of the way, to suppose, that other pagans than those mentioned, may 
have represented the death of the Messiah as occasioned by crucifixion, 
and it may be implied in the very account that Julius Firmicus [Faber, 
Myst. Cabiri, ii. 348,) has given us of the Phrygian mysteries, when he 
says, the image of a young man representing Attis was bound in a tree, 
"In sacris Phrygiis quse matris deum dicunt, per annos singulos arbor 
pinea cseditur et in media arbore simulachrum juvenis subligatur." 

After the same theory as contained in our preceding pages, I would ex- 
plain the mystic signification of the cross borne by Astarte, and also ven- 
erated by Egyptians, Druids, Hindus, and Mexicans; and hence its myste- 
rious signification of Divine Life, Life to come, Saviour, a Talisman against 
evil Spirits, fyc. according to a kind of metonymy where the instrument is 
put for the effect. Nothing short of such a theory, I apprehend, can ex- 
plain the singular facts we have brought together at page 332, &c. 

Nor is the progress of corruption difficult to explain, why the once sa- 
cred memorial obelisk, at last signified the phallus. That gross figure 
naturally symbolizes life, and may very easily be extended in its significa- 
tion, to express either regeneration or immortality. We must not forget 
the observation of Tertullian, already quoted in another place, that in the 
religious system of the pagans, "virile membrum totum esse mysterium." 
To this day in India, the phallus, or as there called the linga, is constant- 
ly adored; but its figure is so mystified in the representation, that the 
chastest eye could not discern its intention unless pointed out and ex- 
plained. 

I cannot but consider, that the views we have taken upon the subject 
of the preceding investigation are every way plausible, and that they throw 
a remarkable light upon the nature of the patriarchal covenant, which I 
presume to have been very similar both in doctrine and form to that of 
Christianity. In process of time, however, it became so corrupted, that at 
the era of the patriarch Abraham, it was necessary to renew the covenant 
with a selected people under a typical form. Yet the Abrahamic covenant 
and the institutions of Moses, were but additions to the first covenant; for 
it is expressly stated by St. Paul, Gal. iii. 19, as is observed by Mr. Fa- 
ber, (Three Dispen. ii. 136,) that when a Jewish disputant asked the 
Apostle, "for what purpose was the Mosaic dispensation made?" he replies, 
"it was added because of transgressions* till the seed should come to 
whom the promise was made." The law or Mosaical dispensation, there- 
fore, was added. But to what? Why certainly to the religion of the pa- 
triarchs with whom the covenant had been made at first. And why was 
it added? Because patriarchism had become corrupted in its doctrines 
and practices. The Jewish dispensation therefore was to serve in its 
types and ceremonies, not as a substitute, but as a "schoolmaster" with that 
chosen people until the Messiah should come, who had been from the first 

* 7rccpa§a£Sov, undoubtedly should be rendered deviations, or corruptions; 
for the verb tfapa&xivw, from which it is derived, signifies to go beside, or de- 
viate from a particular course* Hesychius explains it by not going rightly; and 
in iElian, Mr\ napaCotivsiv, is spoken of a charioteer, who drove so exactly 
as not to deviate from the tracks before made by his chariot wheels. See 
Parkhurst. 



500 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER, &C. 



promised to mankind, and in whose atonement alone, the very foundations 
of religion were laid. The theory of this subject was revealed to our 
first parents, and they in the exercise of prospective faith looked forward 
to its accomplishment. In process of time, it had become entangled and 
corrupted with the devices of human wisdom, yet it never was entirely 
lost. But, neither our time nor the occasion will admit of a further ex- 
amination. We must close this chapter already extended beyond what 
was contemplated in its commencement. We therefore terminate our 
present research, believing that we have while investigating the ancient 
idolatry of America, thus incidentally furnished some important proof of 
the divine origin of Christianity. Though the Hebrew scriptures be si- 
lent concerning the precise doctrines of the patriarchal covenant, yet pa- 
gan antiquity has preserved at least the great features amid the gross cor- 
ruptions of idolatry. From this analysis of pagan superstitions, we per- 
ceive, that the great scheme of atonement by the death of a divine per- 
sonage, was known from the earliest ages of the world, and that it was 
prospectively viewed in many of those minutiee, which in the fulness of 
time occurred to him, whose divinity, character, death and resurrection, 
was not only established before competent witnesses, but who had them- 
selves a miraculous testimony of their integrity in the eyes of all men, by 
the signs and wonders that followed them whithersoever they went. 



APPENDIX II. 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, MOUNDS, &X. OF NORTH 
AMERICA. 

In various parts of the United States, but especially in those states 
watered by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, are various monuments attest- 
ing the ancient residence of some imperfectly civilized people, who have 
disappeared from those situations without leaving a history or even a 
name behind. 

It is evident from the traces of deserted towns or villages, and the large 
extent of cultivated grounds yet plainly discernible in many parts of the 
western country, that a dense population was once collected in that part 
of the Federal union, whose institutions and manner of life, were cer- 
tainly superior to those of the Indians found in the occupancy of the 
country when first visited by the Anglo-Americans. But the indications 
of a superior social state, are perhaps, still more evident from the various 
rude monuments scattered over the country, which have been long known 
to us as the fortifications and mounds of the western states. 

There is no subject of an antiquarian nature that has excited greater 
curiosity in the United States than these ancient monuments; and from the 
utter absence of tradition among the Indians concerning their history, 
the most ample room is left us for conjecture. The general opinion has 
been, that our Indian tribes were unequal to the erection of works of 
such magnitude, or to the manufacture of various articles found in con- 
nexion with these monuments. It has therefore been supposed, that 
various people of Asiatic or European descent have been anciently estab- 
lished in these parts of the United States, who in some remote period of 
time, have been swept away by the ravages of war or pestilence, and 
whose name and history have perished with the race. 

There can be no doubt, that for the most part, few persons have been 
properly qualified to express an opinion on the subject, not only as being 
generally defficient in that kind of antiquarian knowledge, absolutely ne- 
cessary to enable them to appreciate the subject under consideration, but 
in reality the monuments themselves are not yet sufficiently known or 
described; and the vague theories that have been framed upon the know- 
ledge of some one or two monuments, will not apply to various other re- 
mains equally important and interesting. We can speak with some know- 
ledge of this matter, from the fact of having ourselves maintained a the- 
ory on this subject a few years since, which on greater research and bet- 
ter acquaintance with aboriginal institutions, we have abandoned for the 
general views of the ensuing pages, which we trust will be found estab- 
lished by the number of facts we have been enabled to collect concerning 
these rude and ancient monuments. 

Our information upon these antiquities, from not having had the agree- 
able opportuuity of personal inspection, is entirely derived from the ob- 
servation and descriptions of others, and we must in our very commence- 
ment state to the reader, that too frequently, these descriptions have been 
made by persons, who unfortunately possessed neither mathematical nor an- 
tiquarian knowledge sufficient to qualify them for this undertaking, how- 
ever intelligent they may be in the general affairs of life. Yet, for want 
64 



502 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



of better materials, we have been compelled to use the vague, and often 
confused acccounts, given by various writers in our newspapers and peri- 
odical journals, or an occasional book of travels, in which are described 
a few insulated monuments that lay in the traveller's path. Indeed, until 
the researches of Mr. Atwater were published in the Archaelogia Ameri- 
cana, there was no collected account of these remains known to the lite- 
rary world; and we feel the greatest obligation to him, for having com- 
menced the work of drafting and describing so many interesting objects, 
hitherto imknown to us but by rumor and vague description. Unfortu- 
nately, Mr. Atwater's researches have not extended beyond the state of 
Ohio, and we are still very imperfectly acquainted with the monuments 
and antiquities of the states of Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, 
Louisiana, &c. which in certain particulars are very different from those 
found in the state of Ohio. 

But though we are thus deficient in topographical and minute details, 
we believe that we may have sufficient information to give a general idea 
of these monuments, and as our purpose is chiefly to investigate their use 
and object, and by what people they might have been erected, a greater 
minuteness of information is not absolutely necessary, however desirable 
it might be for our general satisfaction. 

It is not an easy matter to ascertain at the present time, how widely 
these various antiquities extend over N. America. It would seem, that 
there are but few traces of them north or east of the great Lakes, or east 
of the Allegany mountains, until we arrive at the states of Georgia and 
Florida, where they occur frequently. In the states west of the Allega- 
nies, they appear spread over the country as far as observations have been 
made, and in all probability may be found until we reach the foot of the 
Rocky mountains.* I believe none have been seen beyond the 47° N. 
latitude. West of that chain, Lewis and Clark, ii. 38, describe a mound, 
"apparently artificial, upon which were the remains of houses;" they also 
take notice of a stone moimd of small dimensions in another part. Be- 
yond these we have no other account. 

The late Governor Clinton, in an interesting memoir, published in the 
Trans, of Lit. andPhilos. Soc. ofN. York,ii. 71, describes various fortifi- 
cations found in the western parts of the state of New York, which how- 
ever differ considerably from those of Ohio, Kentucky, &c; for there seems 
to be no mounds near or connected with the forts; which also appear to 
be much inferior in dimensions to those of the western country. The most 
northern fort mentioned by Gov. Clinton, is on Sandy creek, about fourteen 
miles distant from Sackett's Harbour. The most eastern, those in Onon- 
dago and Chenango counties, where they are pretty numerous; from hence 
they seem to occur more frequently as we go west and south of Lakes 
Ontario and Erie. 

I know of no such remains in Canada, or in New England, but in the 
following instances. "There is something like a fortification at Sanborn- 
town, (N. Hampshire,) consisting of five distinct walls, one within the 
other, and at Hinsdale there is something of the same kind." [Belknap's 
Hist. JV. Hamp. m. 67.) 

In the other Atlantic states, unless it may be an insulated mound here 
and there, I believe nothing of aboriginal erection is to be found until we 
arrive at Georgia and Florida. 

* There is a very large fortification on the banks of the Missouri opposite 
to Bon Homme island (lat. 42° 35') which surrounds nearly five hundred 
acres of ground. We were informed by our interpreters, that there are num- 
bers of such works on the rivers Platte, Kanzas, Jaques, or Yankton, &c 
(Lewis and Clark's Expedition, i. 63.) 



MOUNDS, &C. OF NORTH AMERICA. 



503 



We shall now treat of these ancient monuments in regular order, be- 
ginning with the mounds, as being those objects that chiefly strike the at- 
tention of the traveller when passing through the western country. 

The mounds are heaps of earth or stone of various dimensions and 
shapes; some are not more than four or five feet in height, and eight or 
ten in diameter at the base; whilst others are forty, fifty, and even sixty 
or ninety feet in height, and fifteen or eighteen hundred feet in circumfer- 
ence. Some of them are round, others eliptical, and others square. These 
last are usually flat on their tops; the other kinds generally conical. The 
square mounds, commonly are of less height than those of other forms, and 
most frequently do not exceed ten or twelve feet, though in some instan- 
ces, as we shall presently shew, they are supposed to rise ninety feet in 
perpendicular elevation.* There appears to have been especial means 
taken to ascend the square mounds; for we find in many instances project- 
ing slopes from the body of the mound by which persons could easily at- 
tain the summit. Some mounds have four such slopes, others two, and 
the largest kind but one. The round or conical mounds, either had no 
artificial means of ascent, or having been made of wood they have been 
destroyed by the decays of time It is most probable, however, they were 
not intended to be ascended. 

Most commonly, the mounds are simple heaps of earth, but in a few in- 
stances, they are made of fragments of rock and stone. (Archortog. Ame- 
ric. i. 184.) 

The mounds that have been opened, almost universally contain human 
bones in greater or less numbers, with various stone ornaments, weapons, 
pieces of pottery, and occasionally plates and ornaments of copper. We 
shall presently discourse concerning these various articles, but we think 
it proper to observe in this place, that the mounds hitherto opened appear 
to have been of the smaller kinds, so that it is not known whether the 
larger mounds also contain human bones. 

We will not attempt to describe the various localities at which mounds 
may be seen, nor any of those smaller peculiarities by which they are dis- 
tinguished from each other; for in neither instance have we sufficient in- 
formation. We shall only observe, that there seems to be a material dif- 
ference in the construction and position of the mounds in Georgia and 
Florida, from those of Ohio, Kentucky, &c. Bartram (Travels, fyc. 37, 
99, 325,) mentions groups of square mounds surrounded by walls of earth, 
which seemingly follow a uniform plan of construction not discernible in 
those of the western country. He moreover occasionally takes notice of 
pyramidal mounds, which are found under circumstances that remarkably 
distinguish them from the more common erections. Thus he says, (pages 
103, 521,) "from the river St. Juan, southerly to the point of the penin- 
sula of Florida, are to be seen high pyramidal mounds, with spacious and 
extensive avenues leading from them out of the town to an artificial lake 
or pond of water," &c. 

One of these Florida monuments is thus described by that traveller. 
"At about fifty yards distance from the landing place stands a magnifi- 
cent Indian mount. But what greatly contributed to the beauty of the 
scene, was a noble Indian highway, which, led from the great mount on a 
straight line three quarters of a mile, through a forest of live oaks, to the 

* Perhaps the largest mound in the United States, is one now called by the 
Indian traders mount Joliet, situate about forty miles west of fort Chicago, at 
the foot of lake Michigan. According to Mr. Schoolcraft, (Travels, 331,) this 
monument is about sixty feet in height, of an eliptical form and flat on the 
top, where it measures 450 yards in length, and 75 in breadth. The sides 
have a gradual and regular slope, but the ascent is laborious from its steep- 
ness. 



504 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



verge of an oblong artificial lake, which was on the edge of an extensive 
level savannah. This grand highway was about fifty yards wide, sunk a 
little below tbe common level, and the earth thrown up on each side, ma- 
king a bank of about two feet high." (Bartram, Travels, 99.) 

Having thus in a very general way, taken notice of the various kinds 
of mounds, it only remains to say something of their relative position to 
each other when several are assembled together, or in connexion with 
other ancient monuments. 

I believe no particular order has been observed in the arrangement or 
position of the mounds, further than that it is usual to have some of the 
smaller sizes placed before the entrances of the fortifications as if to pro- 
tect the passages. Of the larger mounds, some are within enclosures; 
and others of equal, or larger size, are without. Perhaps we may be able 
to explain this circumstance when we come to treat more particularly on 
these monuments. 

To enable the reader to form some idea of the arrangement of the 
mounds, in an instance which we apprehend to be one of the very first 
kind as respects magnitude of plan, we subjoin the following description 
of the mounds at St. Louis from the pen of Judge H. M. Brackenridge. 
(Views of Louisiana, 172.) 

"I crossed the Mississippi at St. Louis," says Mr. B., "and after passing 
through the wood which borders the river, about half a mile in breadth, 
entered an extensive open plain. In fifteen minutes I found myself in the 
midst of a group of mounds, mostly of a circular shape, and at a distance 
resembling enormous haycocks scattered through a meadow. One of the 
largest, which I ascended, was about two hundred paces in circumference 
at the bottom, the form nearly square, though it had evidently undergone 
considerable alteration from the washing of the rains; the top was level, 
with an area sufficient to contain several hundred men. 

"From the top of this mound I counted twenty mounds or pyramids, be- 
sides a great number of small artificial elevations; these mounds form 
something more than a semicircle, about a mile in extent; its diameter 
formed by the river. 

"Pursuing my walk along the Cohokia, I passed eight others, in the dis- 
tance of three miles, before I arrived at the principal assemblage. When 
I reached the foot of the largest mound, I was struck with a degree of 
astonishment not unlike that which is experienced in contemplating the 
Egyptian pyramids; and could not help exclaiming, what a stupendous 
pile of earth. To heap up such a mass must have required years, and the 
labours of thousands. It stands immediately on the bank of the Cohokia, 
and on the side next it is covered with lofty trees. Were it not for the 
regularity and design which it manifests, the circumstance of its being on 
alluvial ground, and the other mounds scattered around it, we could 
scarcely believe it the work of human hands, in a country which we ge- 
nerally believe never to have been inhabited by any but a few lazy In- 
dians. The shape is that of a parallelogram standing from north to 
south; on the south side, there is a broad apron or step about half way 
down, and from this another projection into the plain about fifteen feet 
wide, which was probably intended as an ascent to the mound. By step- 
ping round the base, I computed the circumference to be at least six hun- 
dred yards, and the height of the mound about ninety feet. The step or 
apron has been used as a kitchen garden by the monks of La Trappe, and 
the top is sowed with wheat. Nearly west is one of smaller size, and fif- 
teen others are scattered through the plain — two are also seen on the 
bluffs at the distance of three miles. Several of these mounds are almost 
conical. As the sward had been burnt, the earth was perfectly naked, 



MOUNDS, &C. OF NORTH AMERICA. 



505 



and I could trace with ease any unevenness of surface, so as to discover 
whether it was artificial or accidental. I every where observed a great 
number of small elevations of earth, to the height of a few feet, at regular 
distances from each other, and which appeared to observe some order. 
Near them I also observed pieces of flint and fragments of earthen ves- 
sels. 

"I was perfectly satisfied, that here once existed a city similar to those 
of Mexico described by the first conquerors. Although it might not have 
been a Licopolis, Persepolis, or Thebes, it is not improbable that it con- 
tained many thousand inhabitants." &c. 

The fortifications, as they are called, are lines of rampart generally 
constructed of earth, though occasionally made of stone, piled together 
like a stone fence, without mortar or cement. They are of very different 
magnitudes, some enclosing but about twenty acres, whilst others sur- 
round from one hundred and fifty, to two hundred acres of ground. These 
earthen walls are also arranged in various forms, some being disposed into 
circles, others in octagons and squares; but most commonly they are of 
irregular figures, chiefly occasioned by the nature of the ground upon 
which they are constructed. 

As it is out of our power to describe these works according to their 
various details; we will endeavour to give a general idea of their con- 
struction and character, by a condensed view of their appearance as they 
commonly strike the eyes of travellers. 

The walls of the fortifications, are, as we have just said, most com- 
monly constructed of earth, which for the most part, appears to have 
been taken from the surface of the adjacent ground, and piled up into an 
embankment or wall; for there are few or no traces of ditches around 
them. 

The height of the walls varies from five or six, to fifteen and twenty 
feet; differences that probably arise from the greater or less antiquity of 
the structure, or from the nature of the materials thus employed. Upon 
some of these ramparts, the marks are yet visible where a row of pickets 
were planted. (Archcelog. Americ. i. 145.) 

In various parts of the walls, gates or apertures are made, behind each 
of which is frequently placed a small mound, constructed as it were to 
defend the entrance. These small mounds, from their position, evidently 
belong to the fortifications, and must not be confounded with those placed 
either within or without the walls under different circumstances of posi- 
tion. 

Some few fortifications have subterraneous passages leading from within 
the walls to the banks of an adjoining river, as if to provide for a supply 
of water in case of a siege; but in general, there appears to have been 
but little contrivance to secure this necessary element within their enclo- 
sures. Perhaps, this may have proceeded from the generally high 
ground upon which these works are erected, which seldom allows the use 
of natural springs, and from the same circumstance it would have been 
too great a labour to sink wells. Adjacent to some fortifications, however, 
there are artificial wells; and in a few instances they are found within 
the enclosed walls. (Archcelogia Amer. i. 146, 150.) 

To enable the reader to judge of the appearance of these fortifications, 
we have extracted from the Archselogia Americana, i. 135, 146, the fol- 
lowing description of the monuments on the Muskingum river, near Ma- 
rietta; and one of the three fortifications at Paint creek; both of which 
are found in the state of Ohio. 

The situation of the first of these works, is on an elevated plain above 
the present bank of the Muskingum, on the east side, and about half a 



506 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



mile from its junction with the Ohio. They consist of walls, and mounds 
of earth, in direct lines and in square and circular forms. 

"The largest square fort, by some called the town, contains forty acres, 
encompassed by a wall of earth from six to ten feet high, and from twenty- 
five to thirty-six feet in breadth at the base. On each side are three 
openings at equal distances resembling twelve gateways. The entrances 
at the middle are the largest, particularly on the side next to the Musk- 
ingum. From this outlet, is a covert way,* formed of two parallel walls 
of earth two hundred and thirty-one feet distant from each other, mea- 
suring from centre to centre. The walls at the most elevated part on 
the inside, are twenty-one feet in height, and forty-two in breadth at the 
base; but on the outside, they average only five feet in height. This 
forms a passage of about three hundred and sixty feet in length, leading 
by a gradual descent to the low grounds, where at the time of its con- 
struction it probably reached the river. Its walls commence at sixty feet 
from the ramparts of the fort, and increase in elevation as the way de- 
scends towards the river; and the bottom is crowned in the centre in the 
manner of a well founded turnpike road. 

"Within the walls of the fort, at the northwest corner, is an oblong 
elevated square one hundred and eighty-eight feet long, one hundred and 
thirty-two broad, and nine feet high, level on the summit and nearly per- 
pendicular at the sides. At the centre of each of the sides the earth is 
projected, forming gradual ascents to the top, equally regular and about 
ten feet wide- Near the south wall, is another elevated square, one hun- 
dred and fifty feet by one hundred and twenty, and eight feet high, simi- 
lar to the other, excepting that instead of an ascent to go up on the side 
next the wall, there is a hollow way ten feet wide, leading twenty feet 
towards the centre, and then rising with a gradual slope to the top. At 
the south east corner, is a third elevated square, one hundred and eight 
by fifty-four feet, with ascents at the ends, but not so high nor perfect as 
the two others. A little to the southwest of the centre of the fort, is a 
circular mound about thirty feet in diameter and five feet high, near 
which are four small excavations at equal distances and opposite each 
other. At the southwest corner of the fort, is a semicircular parapet, 
crowned with a mound which guards the opening in the wall. Towards 
the southeast, is a smaller fort containing twenty acres, with a gate- 
way in the centre of each side and at each corner. These gateways are 
defended by circular mounds." 

"On the outside of the smaller fort, is a mound in the form of a sugar 
loaf: its base is a regular circle one hundred and fifteen feet in diameter, 
and its perpendicular height thirty feet: it is surrounded by a ditch four 
feet deep and fifteen feet wide, and is defended by a parapet four feet 
high, through which is a gateway towards the fort twenty feet in width. 
There are other walls, mounds, and excavations less conspicious and en- 
tire, which will be best understood by referring to the annexed drawing." 

* As it is of some importance to use precision of terms in the descrip- 
tions of these ancient works, let us hope the word covert way will not be 
used in any future relation of these antiquities. The word is a technical 
one in military language, and is never applied to a subterraneous or pro- 
tected passage. In short, it pertains to fortifications having a regular glacis, 
which only belongs to works of European construction. 



MOUNDS, &C. OF NORTH AMERICA, 



507 




In addition to the above, we shall add a very concise account of one of 
the several fortifications, as they are called, found on Paint creek in the 
state of Ohio. (Archcelog. Amer. i. 146.) This monument consists, as 
will be seen on referring to the cut, of a large irregular enclosure con- 
taining seventy-seven acres of ground. On its eastern side, is a circular 
work containing seventeen acres, and at the southwest side, is a regular 
square work which contains twenty-seven acres, both of which constitute 
essential parts of the irregular portion. 

The walls are composed of the common soil, which seems to have been 
taken up from no particular spot but uniformly from the surface. They 
are in general about ten feet in height at the present time, and through 
them in various parts gates or openings are made. 

The circular work is said to be sixty poles (990 feet) in diameter, and in 
its centre is a smaller circle of about six rods (99 feet) in diameter, 
whose walls are now about four feet high. 

There are several ancient wells marked to, one of which is on the in- 
side, the others outside of the wall. Within the irregular part of the 
works are two eliptical mounds; the largest of which, near the centre is 
about twenty-five feet in height, its longest diameter twenty rods, (330 
feet) and its shortest ten rods, (165 feet) its area is nearly one hundred 
and fifty-nine square rods. This work is chiefly composed of rough 
stones, which have been brought either from the bed of the creek or ad- 
jacent hill: it also contains numbers of human bones. 

The other eliptical mound has two stages, one end of it is about eight 
feet, while the other is fifteen feet high. Such works are not as common 
here as on the Mississippi and towards Mexico. 

There is a work in form of a half moon, (6) set round the edges with 
stones, such as are now found about a mile distant, from whence they 
were probably brought. Near this semicircular work is a mound five feet 
high, and thirty feet in diameter, (c) entirely composed of red ochre 5 
which answers very well for paint. 



505 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



The wells (w) are very broad at the top, one of them being six rods, 
(96 feet) the other four (67 feet) in diameter, the first is fifteen, the latter 
ten feet in depth. There is water in them like the one at Marietta. 

The small mounds around this monument are marked, m. 




Several centuries must have elapsed since these various works, either 
fortifications or mounds, have been abandoned in the state of Ohio; for 
they are in numerous instances overgrown with trees, whose age as esti- 
mated from the concentric rings on their stumps, appear to be three or 
four hundred years old. But it may be rash to apply an equal antiquity 
of abandonment to all similar works throughout their extent, as some per- 
sons seem disposed to believe the case. 

The different matters found on digging into these ancient monuments, 
have so little variety that we decline describing them, until we shall at- 
tempt to shew, by what people, and for what purposes, these various an- 
tiquities were erected. 

Besides these more eminent monuments of ancient demi-civilization, 
there are others much less known, which indeed, have as yet but very 
partially excited any attention, but which constitute essential particulars 
in enabling us to judge of the former inhabitants of the western country. 
Among these may be enumerated the evident marks of ancient cultivat- 
ed fields, which were observed in many parts of this section of the United 
States at an early period of Europo- American history. Kalm (Travels, 
Sfc. ii. 278,) mentions them under the appellation of "ancient ploughed 
fields," which were seen by Mons. De Verandier in his journey from 
Canada to Louisiana. 

Though there is no reason to consider them as having been worked 
with a plough, it is nevertheless evident that they attest the labour of an 
agricultural people, much advanced beyond the tribes who in our times 
occupied the adjacent country.* In our newspapers, I have occasionally 
seen accounts of similar fields in Illinois, &c. 

*In the above instances as well as in other matters generally, we find an 
explanation of the fact in the history of the people of Florida- Bartram 
(Trav. 193) relates, that the Creek Indians, in addition to the smaller gardens 
that each cultivates around his habitation, possess in common large planta- 
tions more distant from their towns. These fields are worked by the whole 
community, though each family has its own particular part marked out, 
which after receiving the common labour and assistance until the harvest, is 
then gathered by each family for their own uses. 



MOUNDS, &C OP NORTH AMERICA. 



509 



The remains of considerable towns are also still discernible in many 
parts of the states of Ohio, Indiana, &c. which have been slightly exa- 
mined by some of our travellers. Near the town of Harrison, in Frank- 
lin county, Indiana, where there are many mounds of earth, are the re- 
mains of a number of stone houses, of which we have the following ac- 
count. (Brown's Western Gazetteer, 58.) "They were covered with soil, 
brush, and, full grown trees. We cleared away the earth, roots, and rub- 
bish, from one of them, and found it to have been anciently occupied as 
a dwelling. It was about twelve feet square; the walls had fallen nearly 
to the foundation. They appeared to have been built of rough stones 
like our stone walls. Not the least trace of any iron tools having been em- 
ployed to smooth the face of them could be perceived. At one end of the 
building we came to a regular hearth containing ashes and coals, before 
which we found the bones of eight persons of different ages, from a small 
child to the heads of the family. The positions of the skeletons clearly 
indicated that their deaths were sudden and simultaneous. They were 
probably asleep with their feet towards the fire, when destroyed by an 
enemy, an earthquake, or pestilence." 

The author of the Western Gazetteer, p. 303, says, that at Paint creek, 
which we have just described to be remarkable from several ancient for- 
tifications in its vicinity, "are the ruins of a town or rather city. The 
cellars and the stone foundations of the houses still remain. The streets 
are in regular squares " The same writer also remarks, that be had him- 
self seen the ruins of several ancient stone buildings in Ross and Picka- 
way counties, state of Ohio; "one of them was within a few miles of 
Chillicothe, near the Maysville road, and appeared as measured by the 
eye, sixty feet long by thirty wide; the stones were generally large and 
rugged, without the least mark of the hammer or any other iron tool. 
Six large beech and sugar maple trees were growing within the enclo- 
sure." 

In Gasconade county, state of Missouri, (Beck's Gazetteer of Illinois and 
Missouri, 234,) "are also the ruins of an ancient town which appears to have 
been regularly laid out. The dimensions of the squares, streets, and some 
of the houses, can yet be discovered. Stone walls are found in different 
parts of the area, which are frequently covered by huge heaps of earth. 
Gen. Ashley informed me, that a stone work exists about ten miles dis- 
tant from these ruins, which is about 25 or 30 feet square, and although 
in a dilapidated condition appears to have been originally built with an un- 
common degree of regularity." 

Of these insulated stone buildings, of which a slight mention has been 
made in our preceding extracts, I have been unable to procure any fur- 
ther information than that just given to the reader. It would seem they 
were merely large houses or buildings, with nothing peculiar in their con- 
struction except in having been built without mortar.* But I am inclin- 
ed to think, that a more particular examination, would have shewn them 

* I believe no work of undoubted aboriginal construction, has been yet 
discovered in the western country in which the stones were laid together 
with mortar. Occasionally, I have seen accounts where mortar has been 
used in some small erections, but these I am inclined to think, have been 
raised by the earlier French or Spanish settlers in America. The following 
relation is the most remarkable instance that has occured to my reading. 
"About thirty miles from Knoxville, across the Clinch river, is a cave in a 
place difficult of approach, the mouth of which was closed by a stone wall 
made of limestone and mortar, which is now harder than the stone itself. It 
is without doubt artificial, for besides the evidence afforded by its structure., 
it contains bones and animal remains." {Silimari's Journal, i. 430.) 
65 



510 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



to be much more curious in their form than might be at first suspected* 
This I would infer from the account that has been given of two stone 
buildings found on Noyer creek, a small stream that empties into the Mis- 
sissippi, two miles below the mouth of Salt river, in the state of Missouri. 
These buildings are about two miles southwest of the town of Louisiana. 
Works of a similar kind are found on the banks of Buffalo creek, and on 
the Osage rivers. They are built of stone and with great regularity. 
The following cut and references, will explain their form better than any 
description. They are taken from Beck's Gazetteer of Illinois and Mis- 
souri, p. 305. 




A Fig,l B 




Figure 1. faces the S. E. 

A. B. C. D. Outer wall, 18 inches thick, length 56 feet, breadth 22 
feet. All the walls are of rough unhewn stone, and are from two to five 
feet in height. 

E. Is a chamber three feet in width, which was no doubt arched the 
whole extent, as some part of the arch still remains, as is represented by 
fig 3. It is at present about five feet above the ground, but as it is filled 
with rubbish it is impossible to say what was its original height. 

F. Is a chamber four feet wide, and in some places the remains of a 
similar arch still remain. 

G. Is a chamber twelve feet in width; at the extremity of which are 
the remains of a furnace. In this apartment several human bones have 
been found. 

H. Is a large room with two entrances, I and K. It is covered with a 
thick growth of trees, one of which is two feet in diameter. 

Fig. 2. Is a smaller work about eighty rods due east from the pre- 
ceding monument. 

A and C are two chambers, each three feet wide, without any appa- 
rent communication with B. 

B. Is a room nearly circular, with one gate or entrance. The walls 
?>f this building are like those of Fig. 1. 



MOUNDS, &C. OP NORTH AMERICA. 



511 



It has not been deemed necessary to extend our descriptions to certain 
other particulars connected with the more remarkable antiquities of the 
western country; but by this course of proceeding;, we do not intend to 
omit any account that may throw light upon the nature of these ancient 
monuments, for we shall from time to time, according to circumstances, 
introduce such descriptions as the nature of our disquisition may require. 
We shall now proceed to investigate the history and object of the anti- 
quities we have already described; beginning with the Fortifications. 

The love of the wonderful which exerts so powerful an influence upon 
human society, has, from the obscurity which apparently covers the his- 
tory of these monuments, been abundantly gratified by the speculations 
of many writers upon their probable purpose and origin. Even the more 
judicious few that have delivered an opinion on the subject, have per- 
mitted their imaginations to mislead them by over-strained analogies, and 
to believe that a state of things once existed in the western country to- 
tally dissimilar to any state of aboriginal society on this continent. We 
shall not take the trouble to disprove the more extravagant theories of 
some writers on these antiquities, for they have fallen and perished in a 
manner, from their own absurdity. Of those views that we are inclined to 
consider but simply erroneous, we do not deem any deserving particular 
notice, except the one, which, overrating the monuments themselves, and 
considering the various minor antiquities found in connexion with them, 
as belonging to a race distinguished for a proficiency in mechanical and 
even scientific acquirements, would hence infer, that the states of Ohio, 
Kentucky, Tennessee, &c. were once inhabited by a nation eminently 
superior to any of the Indian tribes we have hitherto discovered on this 
continent. 

We beg the reader, therefore, to consider us as opposed to this general 
theory, and to understand the observations we shall make in the ensuing 
parts of this chapter, to be directed against such an opinion, though we 
may not think it always necessary to state, that the arguments we in- 
troduce are expressly made for the purpose of refutation. 

We think that opinion incorrect, that supposes the fortifications, as 
they are usually called, to have constituted a system of military defences 
to the countries where they are now found; for it is not sustained either 
by their military position, or by the construction of the works themselves. 
They appear to us to have been simple walls, which surrounded towns 
or villages, including also cultivated grounds; and which, we presume, 
were thrown up by the inhabitants, as a protection against surprisals from 
their enemies. But this was done without reference to any general sys- 
tem of presenting a fortified frontier to invading enemies, which some 
persons have first supposed, and then inferred the magnitude of the na- 
tion who erected these defensive works, which they commonly assume 
to have been been military fortifications in the strictest sense. 

When we consider how natural it is for every nation to secure them- 
selves by walls or defences of an analogous kind, and when we are aware 
that the incessant wars which prevailed throughout America, were chiefly 
carried on by skirmishes and surprisals, certainly, the most obvious course 
that rational beings could pursue, would be to protect themselves from 
such dangers, by either surrounding their towns by rows of palisadoes, 
embankments of earth, or by the use of both combined; and this is so 
evident, that no one expresses surprise, that the savages of America 
almost universally protected their villages by a strong palisade. Now, 
if we remember what wretched tools of stone they used before the dis- 
covery of Columbus, the very great labour of cutting pickets three, six, 
or nine inches in diameter, and twelve or fifteen feet in length, should 



512 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



excite no wonder that they had recourse to materials which would en- 
dure a much longer time, and which could be as easily put together. For 
stones, or fragments of rocks, can be easily handled or rolled together, 
whenever the soil afforded them, or earth or clay could without much 
difficulty be raised into an embankment with broad pieces of bark, which 
the forests in every direction could abundantly supply as a substitute for 
spades or shovels. 

The execution of the work, noth withstanding all that has been said 
concerning their skill and ingenuity, is only indicathe of rude society. 
The manifest oversight of scraping the surface of the ground for mate- 
rials to construct the walls, instead of making a ditch and throwing the 
earth inwards, whereby a double elevation would be gained with half the 
labour, is so evident, that I feel certain, no one can, after a moment's re- 
flection, ascribe these structures to a people possessing any knowledge 
of arts, or an economy anywise superior to the general institutions of 
the American Indians, and certainly not surpassing the Natchez and other 
Indians of Florida. 

The only objection that seems to oppose this view of the subject, is, 
that the population of our Indian nations, does not appear to have been 
sufficiently condensed to effect such labours, which supposes hundreds or 
thousands to have been systematically employed in their construction. 
This objection we will attempt to remove, by shewing what our Indians 
have actually done under similar circumstances. 

When the Spaniards and French first made their settlements in Loui- 
siana and Canada, they found the Indian villages protected both by walls 
and strong palisadoes, of which they have given us such descriptions, 
that there can be but little difficulty in identifying them in plan and in- 
tention, with those works in Ohio, and Kentucky, which have excited so 
much wonder. So natural did these monuments appear to the first in- 
vaders of these countries, that they seem to have expressed no surprise 
at the circumstance, and it was not until long after these times, when the 
western country fell into the possession of the Anglo-Americans, that 
these ancient remains excited so much surprise and curiosity.* The In- 
dians then found in the vicinity of these monuments, had been exceedingly 
influenced by direct or indirect communications with Europeans, their ha- 
bits and customs had been greatly changed, and their traditions in no in- 
stance remounted to the times when the Spaniards or French had first 
introduced themselves among them, and who, by supplying them with fire 
arms, hatchets, blankets and brandy, changed the nature of their wars, 
their economy and morals. 

We shall proceed to describe by various extracts from early travellers 
in North America, the manner by which the Indians attempted to pro- 
tect themselves from the surprisals of their enemies, which we consider 
affords such a mass of evidence on the subject, as will place the anti- 
quities of the western country in a very intelligible point of view. 

Beginning at the north; we find, that when Cartier, A- D. 1535, sailed 
up the St. Laurence to where Montreal now stands, he found in that vi- 
cinity a town of the Wyandot Indians, called Hochelaga; which is de- 
scribed as being round and enclosed with three rows of pickets, (bois a 
trois rangs) placed together in such a manner as to resemble a truncated 
pyramid; (en facon d'une pyramide croisge par le haut) strengthened in- 
side, by a row of wood laid horizontally, well joined and fastened toge- 
ther; the whole wall or rampart being the height of two lances. (I sup- 
pose eighteen or twenty feet.) There was to this town but one entry 

* Kentucky was first visited by Boone in the year 1769. And no perma- 
nent settlement was made in Tennessee until 1774. 



MOUNDS, &C. OP NORTH AMERICA. 



513 



and gate which shut with bars, over which, and on various parts of the 
wall or enclosure, were places, to which the inhabitants ascended by steps 
or ladders, furnished with rocks and stones for purposes of defence. There 
was within the enclosure fifty houses, each about fifty paces in length by 
twelve or fifteen wide. (Lescarbot, 336. Hacluyt hi. 220.) 

Charlevoix ( Voyages, 241 ,) says, the savages ( Algonquins and Iroquois) 
fortify themselves better than they lodge. We see some villages pretty 
well palisadoed with redoubts, where they always take care to make a 
good provision of water and stones. The palisadoes are even double and 
sometimes treble, and have commonly battlements at the last enclosure; 
the posts they are composed of are interwoven with branches of trees 
that leave no place open. This was sufficient to support a long siege be- 
fore these people knew the use of fire arms. Every village has a pretty 
large open place, (a public square) but it is seldom of a regular figure. 

The Chevalier Tonti (Collects. JV. Y. Hist. Soc. ii. 264,) says, that the 
Indians about lakes Ontario and Erie, known how to protect their camps 
"with intrenchments and palisadoes." 

When Soto invaded Florida, A. D. 1539, he found its inhabitants dwell- 
ing in towns well fortified; as may be seen by referring to our account of 
those nations, page 167, and which as we have previously described them 
we shall not introduce again, except in one extract from Garcilazo's ac- 
count of Soto's Expedition, ii. 31. "The town of Mauvilla (in the state of 
Alabama,) is seated in a very pleasant plain, and surrounded by a lofty 
rampart palisadoed with large pieces of wood driven into the ground, with 
beams (soliveaux) laid athwart outside, and fastened inside with strong 
cords. The palisade was plastered over with clay mixed with long straw, 
which filling up every vacuity presented the appearance of a wall of ma- 
son work. About every fifty paces on this rampart, were towers capable 
of containing eight men, with battlements (crenaux) of four or five feet of 
earth thick." 

West of the Mississippi, we still find the Sioux and other Indian na- 
tions throwing up earthen embankments around their camps or their 
towns. Thus Lewis and Clark (Expedition, i. 54,) speak of a village of 
the Sioux, "of which nothing remains, but the mound of earth four feet 
high which surrounds it." 

The same travellers, (page 97,) mention an old village of the Ricaras, 
"surrounded by a circular wall," containing seventeen lodges, deserted by 
that people about the year 1802. 

See also Lewis and Clark, Exped. i. 92, 94, 112; ii. 380, &c. for other 
instances. 

At Prairie Le Crosse, the late Gen. Pike (Expedition, fyc. 19,) says, he 
saw holes in the ground that had been dug by the Sioux when in expec- 
tation of being attacked. "They were generally round, and about ten 
feet in diameter, but some were half moons, and quite a breastwork. 
Their modes of constructing them are as follow 7 : The moment they appre- 
hend or discover an enemy on a prairie, they commence digging with their 
knives, tomahawks, and wooden ladles, and in an incredibly short space of 
time, they have a hole sufficiently deep to cover themselves and their fa- 
mily from the balls or arrows of the enemy." 

Though in our opinion, we have fairly brought the fortifications of the 
western country into a very intelligible point of view, yet it may be ob- 
jected, that we have given no account of an Indian tribe raising works of 
similar magnitude and extent. If we have not done this, we have shewn 
that the principle by which these ramparts were erected was one very 
generally known throughout America, and we are willing to admit, that the 
greater and more extensive works of this kind, have been raised by some 



514 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



imperfectly civilized tribes, superior indeed to the barbarous Indians found 
in possession of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, &c. but who had been 
either driven off to other regions, or had been amalgamated into the ru- 
der tribes, in consequence of some successful invasion of these last. 

Yet with every allowance that we can concede to those who in our 
view over estimate these antiquities, we see but little that the ruder In- 
dian nations could not have effected. Mr. Atwater (Archcel. Americ. i. 
140,) remarks, that "those who are acquainted with the great depth and 
looseness of the vegetable mould, which lies on the surface of the earth, 
(in the western country) and of course the ease with which it may be rais- 
ed by wooden tools, will cease to be astonished at what would be an im- 
mense labour in what geologists call primitive countries." 

To this we may add, that it is evident from an inspection of the fortifi- 
eations, that for the most part, they were in a manner half palisadoed 
works, as the numerous breaks in the rampart, or as they are commonly 
called gates, abundantly testify. This feature is so remarkable in many for- 
tifications, as to induce some persons to imagine they never could have 
been intended as defensive works.* 

With respect to that state of society, which is supposed to be very dif- 
ferent from the North American Indians, who were too independent of 
law or government to unite in such slavish work as these monuments 
seem to require, I beg leave to observe, that the Florida Indians were as 
slavish in executing the orders of their Suns, as any people could be to 
arbitrary governors in any part of the world. But I do not know that any 
such state of society is necessary for raising such works. The Indians on 
the North West Coast of America were not an enslaved race, and yet the 
rafters of Maquina's house, (see page 72,) would require the combined 
exertions of some hundred men, to have hewn them and fixed them at their 
present elevation. 

We also find the New Zealanders, (Havjksworth, Voy. ii. 377; Nicho- 
las, Voy. to JV*. Z. i. 336,) the natives of the Tonga islands, {Mariner, 82,) 
the people of the Canaries, (Glass, Hist. Canaries, 9,) the ancient Ger- 
mans, ( Tacitus, Mor. Ger. xxx.) and even the wretched Bosjesmans of 
the Cape of Good Hope. (Barrow, Trans, i. 284,) all throwing up earthen 
or stone forts, or making walls which in some instances extend above 
a mile. Surely these nations were not more civilized or enslaved than our 
Indians, and if they could perform such works, there can be little difficul- 
ty in believing the latter might do the same, though rude, barbarous, and 
independent. f 

Concerning the mounds, we have even more positive information than 
we have been able to produce on the fortifications, as will appear from 
the express relation of Soto's Expedition by Garcilazo de la Vega, i. 218, 
which we shall extract at length. 

"The city and house of the cacique of Osachile, are like to those of all the 
other caciques of Florida, and therefore, to avoid giving a particular des- 

* This is particularly remarkable in the fortification on the Little Miami 
river, Ohio; which has fifty-eight gateways according to the vulgar notion; and 
to account for so remarkable a circumstance, some strange suppositions have 
been made. I can have no doubt but that these gateways were once filled by 
strong palisadoes, which having decayed in the course of time, leave the 
earthen wall broken into numerous masses. 

I presume, that it was these masses of earth, separated by the palisadoes, 
which the Spaniards under Soto called toicers, and upon which men were 
placed during the time of assault to repel the invaders. See our account of 
Mauvilla, &c. page 167. 

| Professor Pallas (Travels, i. 29, Sic.) mentions ancient ramparts or forti- 
fications of earth in several parts of his journey, which appear to be similar 



MOUNDS, &C. OF NORTH AMERICA, 



315 



cription of this place, and that place, it seems best to give a general descrip- 
tion of all the capitals, and all the houses of the caciques of this country. 
I say then, that the Indians endeavour to place their towns upon elevated 
sites, but because such situations are rare in Florida, with other conve- 
niences for building, they elevate for themselves eminences in the follow- 
ing way. They choose a place to which they bring a quantity of earth, 
which they raise in the fashion of a platform, of the height of two or 
three pikes, (eighteen to twenty-five feet,) whose top will hold ten, twelve, 
or twenty houses, to lodge the cacique with his family and suite. They then 
trace at the foot of this eminence, a square place proportional to the size 
of the town, and round this place the more considerable people build 
their dwellings. The commonalty build after the same plan, and thus 
they surround the dwellings of their chief. 

"To ascend to the chiefs dwelling, they make a sloping ascent from 
top to bottom, by driving two parallel rows of large posts in the ground 
and laying beams and rafters between the posts, and thus make an 
ascent so gradual that horsemen can ride up and down on them with- 
out difficulty. Excepting the place of ascent, they square (escarpent) the 
other sides of the platform, and render it so steep that none can climb up." 

This plain relation, furnishes us with every necessary information con- 
cerning the flat mounds or elevated terraces wherever they may be 
found, whether surrounded with walls or not. We do not, however, 
consider them alone erected for the accommodation of the chiefs; for there 
can be no doubt but some were sites for temples, as Garcilazo, the Por- 
tuguese Gentleman, and Du Pratz, abundantly prove in various parts of 
their writings, and which we have already quoted in our account of the 
religion of the Floridans, page 162. 

It may not be amiss to add, that when the Natchez Indians were ex- 
pelled from Louisiana in the year 1728, they crossed the Mississippi, and 
about six miles below Natchitoches, fortified themselves, and erected a 
"mound of considerable size," which is still to be seen. Documents of 
President's Mess. 1806. 

The conical mounds appear, generally, to have been for sepulchral 
purposes; the smaller ones to commemorate individuals, whose rank or 
services had been favourably appreciated by their fellow countrymen; 
while the large conical mounds generally appear to have contained the 
dead of the whole town or nation. For the most part they are situated 
outside of the walls or fortifications. It was a very common practice 
with the Indian nations to inter their dead until the soft parts of the 
animal system were decomposed, and then every five or ten years, to dis- 
inter them, and collecting their bones bring them altogether to one place 
of final deposite. We have in page 115 stated this practice at length, to 
which the reader is referred. 

That some of the western Indians still erect mounds of earth over 
their dead, is well known; but for direct satisfaction, we shall introduce 
the following relations. 

"We examined" [Lewis and Clark, Exped. i. 43) "a spot where one of 
the great chiefs of the Mahas, named the Blackbird, who died about four 
years ago of the small pox, was interred. He was buried on a hill, and 

with those found in America. This circumstance has been urged to prove 
the Tartar descent of our Indians, but such works are found in various other 
countries, as Great Britain and Germany, where they are often erroneously 
considered Roman encampments. Caesar (Bel. Gall. lib. 7, chap, xxii.) de- 
scribes the fortified towns of the Gauls to be defended by wooden and earth- 
en ramparts, constructed very much like those of Mauvilla and other Floridan 
towns. 



516 



-ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



a mound of twelve feet diameter at the base and six feet high is raised 
over his body." 

"One of the largest mounds in this country" {Beck's Gazetteer of Illi- 
nois and Jdisouri, 308,) "has been thrown up on the banks of the Osage 
river, within the last thirty or forty years by the Osages, near the Osage 
village, in honour of one of their deceased chiefs." 

The flat mounds also contain some human bones, which we would sup- 
pose were those of victims that had been sacrificed and buried in the 
mound, to consecrate it to the invisible spirits under whose guardianship 
they considered themselves placed. 

We consider that we have now furnished sufficient evidence to prove, 
that the fortifications were simple walls to aboriginal towns or villages, 
and that the mounds were sites for the dwellings of chiefs, for council 
halls, or for temples; which fancy and conceit have constructed into va- 
rious shapes, and variously situated one to the other We shall now at- 
tempt to ascertain as far as our imperfect means admit, what nation or 
people erected these monuments. 

Mr. At water [Archmlogia Amer. i. 208,) considers the skeletons found 
in the mounds, to be those of a shorter and stouter race than the Indians 
of North America.* Dr. Drake, however, who as an anatomist, was 
better qualified to judge of this particular, says, [Picture of Cincinnati, 
207, 208,) that from the examination he had been enabled to make, no- 
thing more could be inferred than a sameness in the height of the two 
races. He mentions some variation of the facial angle hi the skulls taken 
out of the mound, but which he very properly considered as a matter of 
no importance. 

In several different parts of Kentucky and Tennessee, dried human 
bodies erroneously called mummies, have been found, which have been 
very plausibly supposed to have been of that race of men who erected the 
monuments of the western country. I have examined several of them 
that have been exhibited in this city, and could see nothing in their ap- 
pearance differing in the least from the general character of the Ameri- 
can Indians. There are several notices of these desicated bodies in the 
Archsel. Americ. i. 231, 318, 362, of which we shall give the following 
condensed view. 

"The mummies have generally been found enveloped in three cover- 
ings; first, in a coarse species of linen cloth of about the consistency and 
texture of cotton bagging. The second envelope of these mummies, is 
a kind of net-work of coarse threads, formed of very small loose meshes, 

*Some persons have also found, according to their misconceptions, both 
giants and pigmies in the mounds and grave yards of the western country. 
In one instance I ascertained from a medical gentleman on the spot, that the 
notion of giants, arose from a clergyman measuring the length of a thigh 
bone found in a mound, by applying the bead of that bone to his perinceum, 
and contrasting the lower end with his knees, which, as might be readily 
believed, fell short three or four inches of the Indian bone. 

The pigmies were derived from finding a number of small graves two or 
three feet in length, containing fragments of evidently adult bones. But it 
was unknown to the discoverers, that the Indians after disinterring their dead, 
as we have observed page 115, buried them in graves just large enough to 
hold the bones made up into a small bundle for the convenience of transpor- 
tation. 

Some of these graves, as those in the vicinity of St Louis, (Long's Exped. 
to Rocky Mis. i. 62,) are lined with flat stones and are of different sizes, 
though commonly three or four feet in length. The intelligent traveller 
we have quoted, justly considered them to have been buried after the flesh 
had been separated from the bones by a previous inhumation. 



MOUNDS, &C. OF NORTH AMERICA. 



517 



in which were fixed the feathers of various kinds of birds, so as to make 
a perfectly smooth surface lying in one direction. The third and outer 
envelope, is either like the one first described, or it consists of leather 
sewed together." 

These bodies are found with the knees bent up to the breast, and were 
no doubt, originally fixed on the bottom of the grave in the usual squat- 
ting position of the Indians; and around them were placed various arti- 
cles, which undeniably are but of ordinary Indian workmanship. 

The inattention of writers to those fabrics which our North Ameri- 
can Indians formerly manufactured, has induced many persons to consi- 
der the wrappers, and other articles found with these dried bodies, to in- 
dicate a race of men different from our Indians. I believe, however, that 
we have sufficiently shewn in page 80, that even the ruder tribes did 
make such manufactures as we find covering these bodies. 

As further proof that our Indians erected these monuments of the 
western country, nothing has been hitherto discovered on opening the 
mounds, that indicates any state of civilization materially different from 
that of ordinary Indian society; and certainly not surpassing the demi- 
civilization of the Florida nations. 

The articles found in the mounds, consist of stone arrow heads, chisels, 
hatchets, and other stone contrivances that were most probably for orna- 
mental uses. Copper, in the shape of rude beads, tobacco pipes, or small 
plates, are also occasionally found; and earthenware of various shapes and 
figures, but of no beauty of form or finished workmanship. Mr Atwater, 
in the American Archselogia, has passed some encomiums on a vessel 
which is formed by the union of three heads, but which, to judge by the 
plate, is rude and unsightly enough. I should not have deemed it of suf- 
ficient importance to deserve notice, had not that gentleman, and some 
of my acquaintances imagined a resemblance in it to the figures compos- 
ing the Hindu triad. Dr. Drake [Picture of Cincinnati, 200,) says, the 
earthen vessels he had seen taken from the mounds, were "unquestion- 
ably" of the same species of manufacture, as are now made by some of 
the Indians of Louisiana; and as to fantastic forms, as late as A. D. 1740, 
Adair says, (Hist. Amer. Ind. 421, 424,) that the Creeks "make earthen 
pots, pans, jugs, mugs, jars, &c. of various antiquated sorts, which would 
have puzzled Adam to have given them significant names." 

In these bizarre vessels of the Creeks, who incorporated into their 
nation the remnants of the demi-civilized Floridans, I see a much more rea- 
sonable source of origin to the earthen vessel mentioned in the Archse- 
logia, than in supposing it to indicate a communication with the Hin- 
dus. 

And to mere fancy I also attribute the idea, that the shells occasionally 
found in these ancient mounds are similar to the sacred chanka of the 
Hindus. We well know that the American Indians made use of sea shells 
for drinking cups, and this circumstance naturally explains why they were 
also buried with the dead, together with other utensils to serve them in 
the world of spirits. 

Dr. Drake (Picture of Cincinnati, 206,) describes large marine shells 
found in a mound, which were cut in such a manner as to serve for domes- 
tic purposes. 

Bartram (Travels, 452) describes the Creeks drinking their infusion of 
the casine plant, out of large conch shells; and Adair (Hist. Amer. Ind. 
46,) mentions the same circumstance. That we may not be obliged to go 
as far as the Indian or Pacific ocean to find such shells, I will observe, 
that they may be found suitable for this purpose in various parts of the 
American Atlantic coast. Tonti (Trans, JV. Y. Hist. Soc. ii. 279,) who 
66 



51S 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, 



accompanied La Salle to Louisiana, mentions great numbers of shells 
lying near the mouth of the Mississippi, "of which some were like drink- 
ing cups;" evidently by this comparison, alluding to some custom anion o- 
the Indians with whom he was familiar. 

Laudonniere (Hackluyt, Voy. iii. 307,) says, "when a king dieth among 
the Floridans, they bury him very solemnly; and upon his grave they set 
the cup wherein he was wont to drink." In Pickart's Religious Ceremo- 
nies, iii. 132, this cup is called a shell, and is so represented in the engrav- 
ing illustrating this funeral ceremony. 

In a few rare instances, burnt bricks, about four or five inches square, 
have been discovered, which appear to have been laid as a pavement, 
whereon human bodies were then burned, and over which a mound was 
afterwards elevated. As I know of no Indians in North America besides the 
Mexicans, who made brick, this manufacture would seem to indicate a 
greater perfection in their social institutions, than we could at first expect 
from the general character of the Indians; but as they certainly made 
abundance of burnt pottery, it would shew no great progress in the arts 
of civilized life, if they also made brick, especially in those situations 
where stone was procured with difficulty. 

Idols made of baked clay, have been also occasionally discovered in 
these monuments, which are both rude and imperfect in anatomical forms. 
These figures, like their brick work, though not common, are within the 
ability of any person who ever moulded a jug or a pot, and judging by 
the drawings that I have seen, nothing is hazarded in saying, that the pro- 
fession of brick-maker, potter, and statuary, were united in one artist, 
whose chef d'ceuvres in no instance can be supposed superior to those of 
the Natchez and other Floridans. 

Of the various stone articles found in the mounds, we do not think they 
deserve any particular notice. As far as we can conjecture, they were 
either for ornamental or domestic purposes, and any excellence they may 
have over works undeniably Indian, is, that they are frequently highly 
polished. Those made of calcareous breccia, mentioned by Mr. Atwater, 
(Arch. Americ. i. 227,) are of this description; though it is highly probable, 
that their beauty depends more on the variegated material employed than 
in any excellence of workmanship. 

Brown ( Western Gazetteer, 57,) says, a piece of glass was found in a 
mound in Indiana, "like the bottom of a tumbler, but concave." If it be 
really glass, I would suppose it indicated that the mound had been raised 
since the whites have held intercourse with the Indians. But may it not 
have been a piece of crystalized quartz or obsidian, fashioned into that 
shape, which persons not mineralogists might very easily mistake for 
glass? 

As to the articles manufactured from copper, there has been nothing 
found hitherto, of any degree of workmanship superior to that of our In- 
dians, whom in page 85 we have already shewn manufactured that metal 
into rude ornaments and tools from Nova Scotia to Patagonia. 

I have deferred speaking until the present time, of those pieces of silver 
and iron, that were discovered on opening a mound at Marietta, Ohio, 
(Archcelog. Amer. i. 168, 178,) and which are plausibly enough conjectur- 
ed to have belonged to a sword and sword belt. But though this may be 
true in fact, we are not prepared to admit that this iron sword blade and 
its ornaments which are of plated copper, were manufactured by the 
race of men who interred the individual covered by this mound. For 
certainly, if the mechanical arts had attained a perfection capable of pro- 
ducing such articles, we should not find appended to this identical skele- 
ton, small lumps of native copper roughly hammered into the shape of a 



MOUNDS, &C. OF NORTH AMERICA. 



519 



plummet, with small pieces of silver stuck in the cracks; as well as 
nothing else superior to what any rude Indian might have easily made. 

As the age of this mound, estimated by the trees that grew on it, is 
supposed to have been several centuries, it is not to be supposed that this 
sword was buried much later than the time of Soto, who invaded Florida 
and marched as far as the Apalachian mountains in A. D. 1540. It may 
therefore have been derived from that invasion. Or if the interment be 
supposed to have happened prior to that epoch, it was most probably 
procured from the Indians on the sea shore, who had received it 
from some shipwreck before the discovery by Columbus. Either of these 
suppositions appear to me infinitely more plausible, than to consider it an 
aboriginal manufacture, when nothing else has been discovered correspond- 
ing to such an evident knowledge of the arts of civilized life. 

When we consider the comparative perfection to which navigation had 
attained for centuries before the voyage of Columbus, as well as the more 
ancient renown of the elder maritime nations, it can scarcely be deemed 
begging the question to suppose that vessels may have been impelled by 
storms on the American coasts, and that various articles of European or 
African manufacture, may in this manner have fallen into the hands of the 
Indians, which if of an indestructible nature, may be found hereafter from 
time to time where they have deposited them with their dead. In this 
manner Roman coins of silver or gold, might have ornamented our In- 
dians in very remote times; and though I consider the stories hitherto 
made public on this matter, hardly substantiated, yet there is nothing in- 
credible in the relation. 

When Amidas and Barlow visited the coast of North Carolina, A. D. 
1584, they found the Indians there possessed of some tools, which they 
had made from pieces of iron procured from the wreck of a vessel, which 
had been cast on that shore about twenty years preceding their arrival. 
(Hackluyt, iii. 248.) 

But there is proof that matters derived from Soto's expedition had 
reached the western country; for we are informed by the Archailog. 
Amer. i. 118, that a medal was found near Circleville, Ohio, "which had 
been given by a Spanish admiral to some person under the command of 
Soto." 

We may also observe, that Soto himself after he had marched some 
distance into Florida, found in a certain town "a dagger and some coats 
of mail," which he supposed had been left in the country by Ayllon, who 
had previous to him attempted the conquest of Florida. 

When we consider these facts, and that Soto lost a great many men in 
his attempt to conquer that country, added to the losses that accompany 
every military movement, we may easily explain the occasional discovery 
of swords, helmets, pieces of armor, steel bows belonging to the cross- 
bow so much used in those times, and other warlike equipments. 

From all the facts I have been able to collect upon the history of these 
antiquities, I am decidedly of opinion, that they were erected by Indian 
tribes of North America. The more eminent monuments were most pro- 
bably raised by nations kindred with the Natchez, Taensas, Maubiliens, 
&c. if not the ancestors of these very people, whose traditions indeed 
seem to point out some ancient establishments in the western country. 
The Natchez said, their empire once extended to the Ohio river, which is 
to a certain degree confirmed by the traditions of the Lenni Lennape or 
Delaware Indians. These, as we shall presently state, declare that when 
they dispossessed the ancient occupiers of Tennessee, Kentucky, &c. they 
fled down to the Mississippi river. 

For the more inferior monuments, and especially those east of Pitts- 



520 



ON THE MONUMENTS, FOTIFICATIONS, 



burg, and through the state of New York, we need not seek a more civi- 
lized origin than from the hands of the Wyandots and Iroquois,* or 
other barbarians who may have intruded themselves on the more an- 
cient possessors of the soil from the west or northwest. This peculiari- 
ty has been already observed by Brown in his Western Gazetteer, p. 56, 
when speaking of the different ages of the mounds in Indiana. "The 
small mounds are from two to four feet above the surface, and the growth 
of timber upon them small, not being over one hundred years; while the 
others are from ten to thirty feet high and frequently support trees of the 
largest diameters. Besides, the bones found in the small ones will bear 
removal and exposure to the air, while those in the large ones are rarely 
capable of sustaining their own weight , and are often found in a decomposed 
or powdered state." 

I presume the reason why we no longer see the Indian nations con- 
structing such works as are now found hi the western country, arises 
from several impoitant considerations. In the first place, the introduc- 
tion of fire arms, enables an enemy to lurk unseen around a village, and 
to shoot from a great distance any who are unfortunate enough to shew 
their heads over the rampart. And to nations who warred like our In- 
dians without magazines or stores, their situation would be infinitely bet- 
ter in the field, than to be surrounded in their walled villages, by enemies 
who could with muskets and rifles fire into the centre of the town from 
the hills and trees in the vicinity. 

Pestilence and famine may also have had an influence in deterring In- 
dians from erecting fortified walls to their towns. The small pox in such 
situations would rage with hideous fatality, and either destroy the popu- 
lation, or force them to scatter abroad over the country; and the pressure 
of hunger in case of a siege, would greatly influence any rude people not 
to shut themselves up in enclosed towns in future wars. 

All kinds of Indian manufactures sunk into disuse and neglect when 
they were contrasted with the superior articles produced by European ar- 
tists. The tedious preparation of wood, stone, or copper, for domestic 
purposes, naturally led the Indians to use those of iron, tin, or pewter; 
and any one could equally well determine the preference to be given to a 
woollen blanket, or cloth leggings, over their coarse and harsh manufac- 
tures of cloth made of rough twine, or from the skins of beasts. The 
great and increasing demand for furs, by the whites, would tend to keep 
them continually hunting wild animals for that purpose, and by thus sepa- 
rating the population into families, their tendency to social life and na- 
tional works would be in a manner destroyed. 

As to the time when the more eminent monuments of the western 
country were abandoned by their erectors, or when the ancient popula- 
tion were overwhelmed by some invasion of the ruder Indians, we can 
scarcely offer any conjecture. The Indians found in the occupancy of 
the country by the Anglo-Americans, appear to have lost all remembrance 
of the time when they first settled in the country, as well as any distinct 
recollection of the history of the monuments themselves. Within a few 
years, however, we have been made acquainted through the Rev. Mr. 
Hecke welder, [Trans. Hist, and Lit. Comit. Am. Philos. Soc. i. 29,) 
with the tradition of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, concerning 
their emigration into the states east of the Mississippi, which appears to 
throw some light on the history of the fortifications of the western coun- 

* The truth of this supposition may indeed be considered established, for 
it is said, (Jlrchazlog. Jlmer. 125,) that articles of European manufacture have 
beeu found deposited within these works, together with matters of undoubt- 
ed Indian fabrication. 



MOUNDS^ &C. OF NORTH AMERICA. 



521 



try, if we can believe it probable their traditions could be preserved for 
so long a period of time with the consistency of narration that belongs to 
Mr. Heckewelder's account. We shall leave this point to the reader's 
judgment, when we have extracted those parts of the tradition that re- 
late of these matters. 

"The Lenni Lenape, according to their traditions, resided many hun- 
dred years ago in a very distant part of the American continent. For 
some reason which I do not find accounted for, they determined on emi- 
grating to the eastward, and accordingly set out together in a body. Af- 
ter a very long journey, and frequent halts, (even of years at a time,) they 
at length arrived at the Mississippi river, where they fell in with the 
Mengwe, (Mingoes, Iroquois or Six Nations,) who had likewise emigrated 
from a distant country and had struck upon this river somewhat higher 
up. Their object was the same with the Lenni Lenape. The spies 
which had been sent forward for the purpose of reconnoitering, had long 
before their arrival discovered that the country east of the Mississippi 
was inhabited by a very powerful nation, who had many large towns built 
on the great rivers flowing through their land. Those people, as I was 
told, called themselves Talligeu, Talligewi, or Alligewi. Many wonder- 
ful things are told of this famous people. They are said to have been re- 
markably tall and stout, and there is a tradition, that there were giants 
among them, or people of a much larger size than the tallest of the Len- 
ape. It is related that they had built to themselves regular fortifications 
or entrenchments, from whence they would sally out, but were generally 
repulsed. 

"When the Lenape arrived on the banks of the Mississippi, they sent a 
messenger to the Alligewi, to request permission to settle themselves in 
their neighbourhood. This was refused them, but they obtained leave 
to pass through the country and seek a settlement farther to the east- 
ward. They accordingly began to cross the Mississippi, when the Al- 
ligewi, seeing that their numbers were so very great and in fact consisted 
of many thousands, made a furious attack on those who had crossed, 
threatening them all with destruction if they dared to persist in coming 
over to their side of the river. Fired with the treachery of these people, 
and the great loss of men they had sustained, and besides not being pre- 
pared for a conflict, the Lenape consulted on what was to be done, &c. 
At length they made a league with the Mengwe, and both attacked the 
Alligewi, when great battles ensued in which many warriors fell on both 
sides. The enemy fortified their large towns, and erected fortifications, 
especially on large rivers and near lakes, where they were successively 
attacked and sometimes stormed by the allies. No quarter was given, so 
that the Allegewi at last finding their destruction was inevitable if they 
persisted in their obstinacy, abandoned the country to the conquerors and 
fled down the Mississippi river, from whence they never returned. The 
war which was carried on with this nation lasted many years," &e. 

Excepting the story of the giants, there is nothing improbable in this 
tradition. It however throws very little light on the subject we have 
been discussing, unless it may be in the statement, that the Alligewi de- 
scended the Mississippi towards Louisiana, where, if we can trust to the 
correctness of the tradition, we may suppose they either settled them- 
selves, or were united with some of those demi-civilized people we have 
described under the general appellation of Floridans. This story, there- 
fore, confirms the opinion we have entertained of a connexion between 
the founders of the monuments of the western country, and the Natchez, 
Teensas, &c. 

But it is not impossible, that some Indian nation or other, excelling the 



522 ON THE MONUMENTS, FORTIFICATIONS, &C. 



ruder tribes in some particulars of demi-civilization, were living on the 
Ohio river at times much later than we can suppose the Lenape invasion 
to have taken place. To justify this belief we adduce the following state- 
ments. 

The Indians of North Carolina or Virginia informed Amidas and Bar- 
low, (Hackluyt, Voy. hi. 258,) that at about twenty days journey over- 
land to the north, was a nation called Mangoacs, who worked metals. 

In the year 1663, when Sir Wm. Berkley was governor of Virginia, 
(Hist. Virginia, by a native, 63,) an excursion was made across two ran- 
ges of mountains in that state towards the Allegany mountains under the 
command of a Capt. Batt. But when they had marched thus far, the In- 
dian guides that the English had brought from Jamestown, refused to 
proceed further, saying, "that they were not far off from a nation of In- 
dians, that made salt and sold it to their neighbours; that they were a 
powerful people which never suffered any strangers to return that had 
discovered their towns." From this refusal of the guides to conduct the 
party, Batt was obliged to return home. 

That we may not seem to overlook any thing of importance concerning 
the ancient population of the western country, I shall, before concluding 
this chapter, take notice of some traditions of the Indians relating to the 
supposed constructors of the fortifications, which I was once disposed to 
estimate of some importance though I now consider them of no conse- 
quence. These traditions, which may be seen in the Port Folio for June, 
1816, ascribe the erection of the antiquities of Ohio and Kentucky to a 
race of whites, who after maintaining a bloody war with the Indians, were 
finally exterminated. It may be possible, that their tradition remounts to 
times in which the ancient possessors of these states were dispossessed 
by the ruder tribes after a sanguinary warfare. But that they were a 
race of white men, is unsupported by any thing but their vague and very 
uncertain traditions, which cannot be deemed of sufficient correctness to 
establish this point. If there should be any semblance of truth in their 
story, it most probably alludes to a conflict with some early settlement of 
French or other Europeans in these countries, which tradition has mag- 
nified into a great and important war, in which the Indians, the heroes 
of the tradition, were conquerors. 

That bloody wars have been carried on by the Indians among them- 
selves in the western country, there is no reason to doubt; for a similar 
state of things has been witnessed in every fertile part of America. Ken- 
tucky appears to have been especially distinguished in this particular; for 
the river, whence the name of the state has been taken, signifies "bloody 
river;" and the country itself was called by the aborigines "the dark and 
bloody ground." 



APPENDIX III. 



OP THE INVASION OF FLORIDA BY FERDINAND DE SOTO, AND OF 
THE COUNTRIES TRAVERSED IN THAT EXPEDITION. 

In the year 1539, Ferdinand de Soto landed at the bay of Spiritu 
Santo, in East Florida, with an army of about twelve hundred men, to 
attempt the conquest of that country for the Spanish crown. He was en- 
gaged in this expedition about four years, when after having lost the 
greater part of his troops, he died somewhere on the shores of the Mis- 
sissippi river, and the remnant of his army abandoning all hopes of con- 
quering the country, built several vessels, and descending that river to its 
mouth, sailed away to the kingdom of Mexico. 

It has been a matter of much curiosity among American antiquarians 
to ascertain the route of his march, the places he visited, and where- 
about on the Mississippi the brigantines were built that conveyed the 
remains of his army away from the country. 

We have two relations of this military expedition; one by Garcilazo de 
la Vega, who derived his information from a soldier who served under 
Soto, and another by a Portuguese writer who belonged to the invading 
army, and who, as he has concealed his name, is known by the appellation 
of the Portuguese Gentleman. 

The account given by Herrera seems to have been taken from that of 
Garcilazo. 

I have found this inquiry concerning Soto's route attended with many 
circumstances of difficulty and perplexity, not only from the uncertain 
orthography of the Indian names, often spelt three or four different ways, 
and maps also sufficiently inaccurate, but especially from the vague and im- 
perfect manner in which the route of the march is described. Sometimes 
estimates of the length of the journey are given in day's marches, and at 
other times in so many leagues, while again it is also evident, that no 
notice has been taken of other journeys in any manner whatsoever. 
The direction or course has been partially given for about the first half 
of their route, but in the latter part no such aid has been afforded to our 
research. 

The plan I have pursued in this investigation, has been chiefly to 
compare the nature, accidents, and circumstances of their march, with 
the actual face of the country, which I have studied on two maps, one of 
which is constructed on the largest scale I could procure, and the second 
on a scale so reduced that only the leading features of the country could 
be laid down. This last will be found in general, most conformable to 
the descriptions of careless soldiers passing through various districts, and 
thinking of little else than rapine and plunder. Such persons, however, 
not only confuse many distinct objects together into some general des- 
cription, but they also often give a magnitude or importance to other 
particulars that bear no such proportion to the real state of things, and 
which may in certain instances be detected on a map of large size. 

But with all the assistance of books and maps, I have not been able to 
persuade myself that I have attained to more than a tolerable approxi- 
mation to the truth, which, perhaps, is as much as can be done on a 
subject, where the information given is scanty, perplexed, and obscure. 



524 



INVASION OF FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



Soto landed his army at the bay of Spiritu Santo, about half way down 
the peninsula of Florida, on the western side; and from thence he marched 
his troops in a northerly direction, according to Herrera, one hundred 
and fifty leagues, to a town called Anhayca^m the province of Palache or 
Apalache, where they went into winter quarters. 

To accomplish this journey, they passed through many swamps, rivers, 
and forests which they speak of as belonging to several distinct provinces, 
with capital towns, villages, &c. We have been able to detect only a few 
of the names by which they have distinguished these towns or provinces 
as they are pompously termed; such as Vitachuco, probably retained in 
the word Ivitachia, Ossachile, in Ausilly, Palache, in Apalachy, &c. but as 
these were certainly insignificant places, they deserve no particular in- 
vestigation. 

The Apalachy Indians, at the time the French settled in Louisiana, 
lived around and above the junction of Flint and Cattahouchie rivers, and 
most probably, had lived there since the time of Soto, The town of An- 
hayca, I have placed north of the river Uche, from the following incident 
in Soto's history. After Calderona, who was marching to join him at An- 
hayca, had passed the marsh of Apalache, which I cannot make out to be 
other than the Ohahichee swamp, he entered on a large plain, over which 
he marched about five leagues to a deep stream; (ruisseau profond) the 
Uche river, I presume, where they fought a battle with the Indians. 
Now near this place must have been the town of Anhayca, for Garcilazo, 
i. 326, 329, says, that the Spaniards encamped there ought to have heard 
the noise of the engagement. 

We cannot be far wrong in thus locating Apalache; for the sea port of 
Aute, which undoubtedly was at the head of the bay of St. Marks, was 
about thirty leagues distant. (Garcil. i. 245.) 

After leaving Apalache in the ensuing spring, they marched north- 
wardly three days to the province of Atalpaha; which name is probably, 
preserved in that of the river Alapapaha, the midmost branch of the 
Sawanee river. From hence they marched ten days northwardly along 
the banks of a river, (I suppose Flint river, on its east bank,) until they 
arrived at the province of Achalaqui; (probably a tribe of Cherokees, 
some of which do not pronounce the letter R, and call themselves Chel- 
lakees.) They describe the country here to be poor and barren. If the 
fertility of the adjoining countries was known to me, it might enable us 
to state with some plausibility this locality; but being ignorant of these 
particulars, I can only venture to suggest it may have been in Houston 
county, Georgia. From hence they marched to the province of Cofachi- 
qui, which I cannot detect in any name on our maps: but, as they came 
to a river of such size that they could not ford it, I presume, they had 
struck on the Ocmulgee, to which the nature of the country, and the dif- 
ficulty of crossing some small rivers that empty into Flint river, would 
insensibly lead them. The principal town in this province they call 
Talomeco, where was a temple which they plundered of pearls to a large 
amount. I presume this place to have been in Monroe county, Geor- 
gia. Here they crossed the river, (to the east bank of the Ocmulgee,) 
and from hence marched to the province of Chalaque, (Cherokees 
or Chelakees as before remarked,) and in five days more came to XnaUa 
or Chouala. Here they describe the country as mountainous. I pre- 
sume they had reached at this time the Occone mountains, in Hall coun- 
ty, Georgia. The Port. Gent. p. 70, says, that some of these moun- 
tains "were very bad:" but according to Herrera, v. 320, "they were not 
disagreeable, though they were about twenty leagues across, and that 
they were five days in passing over them." 



INVASION OF FLORIDA BY SOTO, 



525 



Hitherto, their course had been northwardly, but from these mountains 
they turned to the westward, and marched in six or more days to Guax- 
ale, Guachoule, or Quaxule, for the word is spelt in three ways. It is 
possible that the town of Qualatche, which is situated on the very source 
of the Catahootche river, designates this station. From hence they pro- 
ceeded in two days to Canasaqua, a name perhaps retained in the river 
Connesaugo, which runs nearly along- the 8° of longitude, (west from 
Washington,) from the mountains, and finally empties into the Coosa 
river. 

At Canasaqua, the Indians informed the Spaniards of a province they 
called Chisca, situated to the north, but over mountains impassable to 
their cavalry. These mountains were certainly the Apalachian. 

After leaving Canasaqua, in five days they arrived at the town of Chiaha, 
or Ichiaha, (perhaps the village of Etowa.) Garcilazo says, they de- 
scended from Guachoule along the course of some streams, which join at 
some distance below Guachoule, and make so considerable a river, that 
in the province of Ichiaha, only thirty leagues distant, it is broader than 
the Guadalquivir at Seville. (This river I presume, was the Etowa river, 
which falls into Coosa river. ) They crossed this river, and entered the 
province of Acoste; a name I cannot recognise in the maps under my in- 
spection. From Acoste they marched into the province of Cosa. This 
province they state to be about one hundred leagues in extent, and that 
the village of the Cacique, which was also called Cosa, was at the other 
extremity of the province from whence they had entered. It was situat- 
ed upon the banks of a river. Every part of this description is strictly 
correct as applied to that town, which is now called in our maps "Old 
Coosa;" in north latitude about 33° 30', on Coosa river. 

Garcilazo (Exped. of Soto, ii. 18,) says, that from the time they left 
Xualla, they had tended towards the sea port of Achusi, (Mobile bay,) in 
the form of a bow. 

From Coosa, they marched five, six, or seven days to Talisse, a town 
lying upon a very rapid river. (This I consider to have been the Talisse 
of the maps, lying at the elbow of Talapoosa river.) They crossed 
this river, and in six days came to Tascaluza; a town we cannot identify 
on the maps at this place. Bossu [Travels in Louisiana, 282,) says, that 
above sixty leagues above the junction of the Tombecbe and Alabama 
rivers, and up this last, is a ford called by the Choctaws, Taskaloussas, 
which signifies white mountain or hill, where we may suppose Soto's 
army to have crossed. However this may be, they crossed the river that 
runs by Talisse, (Talapoosa, but now confounded with the Alabama 
river,) which was more rapid than at Talisse, and in about two leagues 
march they came to Mauvilla; which, from their crossing the river, 
must have been on the north side of the Alabama river, and probably 
east of Bougchitto creek. This neighbourhood may be still recognised 
on the maps, by the village of the "Old Mobilians," or Mouvillians, which 
Mons. Du Pratz testifies to be their proper appellation. Old Mobile, 
however, is on the south side of the Alabama river, whereas the Mau- 
villa of Soto was on the northern side. It is not very unlikely that the 
present town of Old Mobile is on the site of the village of Tascaluza, and 
that the fortified ruins of Mauvilla might yet be found at about six miles 
N. W. on the other side of the Alabama. 

Whilst at Mauvilla, Soto understood that his fleet under the command 
of Maldonado, were lying at the sea port of Achusi, distant, according to 
the Portuguese Gentleman, seven days journey, or according to Garcila- 
zo, thirty leagues. This sea port was also distant coastwise from the port 
of Ante, (Bay of St. Marks,) about sixty leagues. These distances, which, 



526 



INVASION OF FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



however, were only estimates, seem to point out Achusi to have been 
Mobile bay with sufficient precision. 

At Mauvilla, Soto fearing his men would abandon him if he advanced 
to the sea shore, directed their next march in a northwardly direction, 
and in five days they came to the town of Cabusto, situated on a river of 
such magnitude that they were obliged to build boats to enable them to 
cross over. I know of no town whose name resembles Cabusto, but pre- 
sume it may have been somewhere near the modern town of Erie, on the 
Black Warrior river, which I suppose was the stream they crossed in 
boats. After five days of further march, they came to another river, 
(Tombigbe) where they again were obliged to build boats to enable them 
to pass over. After crossing, we have no account given of the number 
of days of march, or estimate of leagues to Chicaza; where they went 
into winter quarters and passed the winter season of A. D. 1540. 

Chicaza, was undoubtedly in the Chicasaw country, as the very name 
indicates. I have located it about the 34° of north latitude, and 12° west 
longitude from Washington. We are justified in assuming this position, 
from the length of their march in the spring to the Mississippi; for when 
they left their winter quarters, they marched twelve leagues to Alibamo, 
a fortified town upon a river, (supposed to be the Yazoo,) and from thence, 
according to the Portuguese Gentleman, they marched seven days to the 
Great river, (the Mississippi.) The description given of the Mississippi 
attests, that it has preserved its present character three hundred years; 
for the Portuguese Gentleman, p. 112, says, "The river was half a league 
over, so that a man could not be distinguished from one side to the other; 
it was very deep, and very rapid, and being always full of trees and timber 
that were carried down by the force of the stream. The water was very 
thick and muddy." 

After having built boats they crossed the Mississippi, somewhere I pre- 
sume, about twenty or thirty miles below the mouth of the Arkansaw 
river. They call the country where they landed, the province of Aquixo, 
a name we cannot recognise in any Indian words preserved on our maps. 
As far as can be collected from their account, they marched across the 
province, crossed a river, (the Wachita) and on the fifth day, from a high 
eminence, (probably near the present southern old Cado village) they dis- 
covered the town of Casquin* on the banks of a river (Red river) as 
great as the Guadalquivir at Cordova. They marched up this river to 
some little villages where the Cacique held his court, (probably, the 
northern old Cado villages,) and from hence they proceeded to Capaha; 
in which word we may recognise a town of the Kappas, or Quapaw In- 
dians, who even at this day, have their towns extending across the Wa- 
chita from the Red to the Arkansaw river. It is impossible to say where 
Capaha stood, but if a locality be deemed necessary, we may suppose it 
to have been about the western Cado village, which on Pike's map is near 
the 1 8° of Ion. west from Washington. The most embarrassing part 
of their narration, however, is, that they say there was a canal of water 
of about three leagues in length from Capaha to the Great river. As 
the appellation Great river, has been but just applied to the Mississippi, I 
was much perplexed to connect other circumstances with the supposition 
that Capaha was within three leagues of that river, and not being able 
to reconcile the future incidents of their route with such a position, I 

* It is not unlikely that by this name, the Kaskaia Indians are intended: 
but they are now found in the interior of the country. According to Long's 
Exped. ii. 112, they frequent the country about the sources of the Platte, 
Arkansaw, and Rio del Norte, and extend their hunting excursions to Red 
River and the sources of the Brassos. 



INVASION OP FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



527 



have presumed that the Spaniards have called the river of Casquin (Red 
river) the Great river in this instance, either from some mistaken idea of 
its identity with the Mississippi, or from its being simply a large river, 
without any reference to the former. If we admit this misnomer to have 
existed, there remains no other difficulty to overcome; for the ensuing 
part of their journey agrees with supposing Capahato have been ori Red 
river. 

At Capaha the Indians informed Soto, that at about forty leagues dis- 
tant* were moimtains, (Ozark mountains, or Potato hills) at which he 
could procure salt; and two Spaniards who were despatched for this pur- 
pose, returned after an absence of eleven days with a sufficiency of rock 
salt, "as clear as crystal," and one load of copper. (Herrera, v. 339.) 

Afterwards, Soto returned to Casquin, determining to march to the 
westward, and after crossing the river (Red river) he marched down the 
stream four or five days, through a fertile country to Quiguate, a province 
and town with the same name, fertile and abundant in provision. I can- 
not detect this name on the map.f From Quiguate they marched in five 
days to Colima, still descending the river, which Garcilazo (Exped. of 
Soto, ii. 172,) expressly says, ran by Casquin, and which confirms our sup- 
position that Capaha was on Red river; for such a descent along the river 
side, will alone suit that stream. 

Colima, or Coligoa, (for it is spelt both ways,) I cannot identify in any 
Indian name; but the Port. Gent, says, they marched seven days from 
Quiguate under guidance of an Indian, through a marshy country and so 
wet that they even slept in the water until they came to Coligoa, which 
lay at the foot of a mountain, and upon a river as large as the Coya in 
Estremadura. This description will apply tolerably well to that hill call- 
ed Mount Darby, about 32° north latitude, and by which Sibly's river 
passes. 

From Coligoa, after five days march they arrived at Palisema; but 
they do not state in what direction they went. As they say, however, 
the face of the coimtry was rough, we may presume they had left Red 
river, and marched westwardly across the hills between Red and Sabine 
rivers, and from thence they advanced to Tafalicoya, in the province of 
Cayas; (the Keyes Indians?!) fr° m thence they marched to Tanico, 
(Tankaways?§) on a river side, (Brassos de Dios) and then in a day and a 
half more reached Tula. From this town they marched in six days to 
Vitangue or Autiamque, where they passed the winter of 1541. At this 
place they say it snowed heavily. 

* According to Herrera this distance is but four leagues if correctly trans- 
lated: but in Garcilazo it is as stated in our text. That we are correct in 
following the latter, is justified by the number of days consumed in the 
journey. They had probably reached the vicinity of the Hot springs of the 
Washita, near which Maj. Long's party (Exped. to Rocky Mountains, ii. 299,) 
found native copper. In the same region also is the Saline branch of the 
Washita, near which they probably procured the salt. 

f Lest any of my readers might suppose I had overlooked the apparent re- 
semblance of Coshatta in this very neighbourhood to Quiguate, it may be 
proper to remark, that the Coshattas, are a body of Creek Indians who emi- 
grated to that village about thirty or forty years ago. 

I The Keyes or Keychies, live on the E. bank of Trinity river at present, 
but they formerly resided on the head waters of the Sabine. ( President" 1 s 
Mess. 1806, p. 70.) 

§ The Tankaways, have no particular place of abode, but are always mov- 
ing, alternately occupying the country watered by the Trinity. Brassos de 
Dios, and Colorado rivers. (Pres. Mess. 1806, p. 74.) 



528 



INVASION OP FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



I have not been able to identify any points on their march, or even its 
general direction after leaving Coligoa, but incline from their future 
movements to suppose, that they had ascended the river Brassos de Dios 
some distance up the valley, through which that stream descends from 
mountains of St. Saba. I think we may be justified in supposing this to 
have been their route, as the Portuguese Gentleman, (Exped. of Soto, p. 
139,) says, that in marching from Tula to Autiamque, they were "five 
days passing over very rough mountains," which can hardly be applied 
to any other mountains than~those of St. Saba. 

The Portuguese Gentleman also says, that the river of Cay as, (Red 
river?) passed by Autiamque, which to make a position, we shall assume 
to have been situated on Red river, about the 20° of longitude west from 
Washington.* 

While in winter quarters, they made an excursion in quest of slaves 
into the province of Naguaten or Nagnatex, (Nacodoche Indians?) which 
they describe as being very populous. 

In the spring of the year 1542, they left Autiamque to return to the 
Great river, (Mississippi,) for Soto became anxious to make an establish- 
ment on its banks, by which he could communicate with the sea. To 
reach that river they made hasty and long marches by a different route 
from the one by which they had advanced, but of which scarcely any 
particulars are stated. 

The Portuguese Gentleman relates, that after leaving Autiamque, they 
proceeded to the province of Ayas, (Yawyes or Eyeish Indians) where 
they found a town upon that river, (Red river,) which passes by Cayas 
and Autiamque. To cross the river they had to build a boat, and after 
three or four days marching in a very wet country, they came to the 
town of Tultelpina, where there was a river and a lake which discharged 
itself impetuously into the river. f We have no clue given us, to ascer- 
tain whether they had got entangled between some of the numerous lakes 
that discharge themselves into Red river, or whether it may not have been 
some lake on, the Wachita river. But they crossed the lake with conside- 
rable difficulty on rafts and floats, and then marched in three days time to 
Tianto, a frontier town of the the province of JVilco or Anilco. Herrera, 
vi. 5, says, from hence they marched thirty leagues through that province 
to the chief village of the Cacique, which stood upon the bank of a river 
as large as that of Seville. They crossed this river, and marching through 
a woody desert came into the province of Guachcoya, and then to the 
capital thereof, seated on the hillocks by the side of the Great river. 

Of the places last mentioned, Tianto and the river of Nilco, we can 
find nothing synonymous in the Indian names as laid down on our maps; 
but taking every thing into consideration, both as respects the past events 
of their journey, and those that presently are to be related, I presume, 
the river of Nilco was the Arkansaw. The Portuguese Gentleman in- 
deed says that it was the same river that ran by Cayas and Autiamque, 
which we have hitherto considered to have been Red river, and with 

* Autiamque, or Vitangue, it is not unlikely, is a corruption of the Yancton 
Sioux word O-tong-y-a, which signifies a village. 

f This is precisely the character of the numerous lakes along the course 
of Red river. In the documents accompanying the President's message for 
1806, it is said, "When that river is rising, the bayaus that connect with the 
lakes run into the lakes like a mill-tail, till the lakes are filled, and when the 
river is falling, it is the same only the contrary way." It is also said, page 
97, that similar lakes are found all along Red river for five or six hundred 
miles: which will bring them within the limits of Soto's crossing place, ac- 
cording to our conjecture. 



INVASION OP FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



529 



which Nilco would agree as well as with the Arkansaw, was not the sup- 
position opposed by the length of their voyage down the Mississippi to 
the ocean. Now, as I think, it will be impossible to reconcile their voy- 
age down that river, with a position near the mouth of Red river, it will 
follow conclusively, that they debarked above the Arkansaw, for it is im- 
possible that any other river can divide the question of locality with the 
two we have mentioned. 

Garcilazo, (Exped. of Soto, ii. 221,) says, that Guachoya was situated 
seven leagues from the mouth of Nilco river. That it was above, or 
north of this river, is evident from Herrera, vi. 7, who describes the ca- 
noes of a military expedition to have "went down" the Great river, (Mis- 
sissippi,) and up Nilco river to the town of that name, a distance in all 
of about twenty leagues. 

At Guachoya, Soto the commander of these villanous banditti died, and 
his body was sunk in the Mississippi, where they say the water was nine- 
teen fathoms deep, if Herrera's Spanish measures be translated correctly, 
which I very much doubt.* 

After Soto's death, his followers made a fruitless attempt to march to 
Mexico by land. They assert, they went about one hundred and fifty 
leagues to the westward, and got in sight of vast mountains, but from the 
desert state of the country, and its unpromising appearance, they again 
returned to the Great river. Here they commenced building their brig- 
antines, in the province of Aminoya or Minoya, which they state, was 
about seventeen leagues above Guachoya. 

We have no means whereby we can ascertain how far west they march- 
ed on this expedition. The mountains they mention may have been some 
of the spurs of the Rocky mountains, though we can hardly think they had 
reached that chain. Minoya, or Aminoya, I have been unable to detect 
in any Indian name in this part of America. There was an Indian na- 
tion called Tamaoas, a little above where we have located Aminoya, and 
it is not impossible the Spaniards may have corrupted that appellation. f 
At any rate, Aminoya was, according to Herrera, seventeen leagues above 
Guachoya. The Port. Gent, says, they were two days march distant. 
That a plausible locality may be assigned for this place, we have ventur- 
ed to select the neighbourhood of the town of Helena, about thirty-five 
miles above the mouth of the Arkansas river. 

At Aminoya, they built seven brigantines; and having embarked, they 
descended the Mississippi to the ocean. 

The only method by which we can plausibly determine, whether Ami 
noya was near thejnouth of the Arkansas, or Red river, will be to ascer 
tain, as near as possible, the number of days they were actually employed 
in descending the Mississippi. For as we know the velocity of the cur- 
rent, we may ascertain with tolerable exactness, the number of miles per 
day they would be carried down by the mere force of the stream, and thus 
learn the minimum distance they would descend in any certain number of 
days. We should then, if it be possible, add to the simple force of the 
stream, an additional velocity from the use of oars and sails; but for this 
we can have no data though we must bear the fact in mind. 

* I presume, the Spanish word used by Herrera is vara, which is but 
thirty-three inches of our measure. 

f The Tamaoas, who were of the Illinois stock, lived in the time of the 
Chevalier Tonti, (A. D. 1679,) about one hundred and forty years after Soto, 
on the Mississippi; about ten leagues below the mouth of the Missouri river. 
This will place them pretty close to where we have supposed Aminoya to 
have been. (Tonti in Trans. Jf. Y. Hist. Soc. ii. 264.) 



530 



INVASION OF FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



The Portuguese Gentleman says, the voyage lasted seventeen days, and 
he estimates its length to have been about two hundred and fifty leagues. 

Garcilazo relates, the voyage continued during nineteen days and 
twenty nights, and that they sailed during that time about five hundred 
leagues. 

As the number of leagues stated in either relation, was avowedly guess 
work, no reliance need be given them, and the difference in the number 
of days may be explained, by considering the Portuguese not to have 
counted the three days that they stopped to refresh themselves a little 
above the mouth of the Mississippi before they went to sea, while Garci- 
lazo counts the time to the very ocean. We shall, however, take the ac- 
count of the Portuguese Gentleman, and after ascertaining as carefully as 
we can, all the various delays and stoppages that occurred during the 
voyage, then make a fair estimate of the time during which they actually 
made progress. 

They left Aminoya, 2d July, A. D, 1543, but according to the new 
style to which this time must be reduced, on the 14th July; and 
descended as far as Guachoya, where they stopped several hours 
but did not land; suppose the detention was Hours 6 

The next day they landed at a wood, but at night they went 
aboard their vessels; probable stoppage 12 

They once more landed at a town, where a party of horse were 
put 'on shore who plundered a village; say 12 

They moreover tarried here a day to embark their plunder; 24 

After this they embarked and fell down the stream to a town 
on the river side, where they landed and burnt the village. 

Their whole force, (about 300 men,) appear to have been landed 
and drawn up in battle array; we suppose the detention was 24 

The next detention appears to have been from a battle on the 
river with the Indians, during which time they were either at an- 
chor or made very little progress; say 6 

They now speak of frequent detentions they had experienced on 
account of the boats that carried their horses, and to avoid this 
delay for the future they landed and killed them, intending to dry 
their flesh for provisions, but the Indians making a formidable at- 
tack at this time, the Spaniards fled to the brigantines. We sup- 
pose the whole of the detentions they complain of, as well as this 
particular landing, may be 48 

After this time, no other circumstances are related whereby we 
could estimate any other detention. 

According to our estimate, they were delayed on their voyage five days 
and a half; which, however, we think may be safely called six entire days; 
which deducted from seventeen, leaves eleven days for the actual voyage. 

The current of the Mississippi at this time of the year, (July,) may be 
stated at about three miles per hour. 

Having thus settled our data, we now proceed to observe, that if 
Aminoya, had been at the mouth of Red river, their voyage thence to the 
ocean, would have been about three hundred and fifty miles, which for 
eleven days progress will average but about thirty two miles per day, or 
about one and a quarter miles per hour under the united impetus of sails, 
oars, and the steady current of the Mississippi. As we have every reason 
to think a log would be floated down with twice the velocity, it seems to 
follow conclusively, that Aminoya could not have been at the mouth of 
Red river. 

The Arkansaw falls into the Mississippi, about seven hundred and 
twenty miles above its mouth, which will allow them to have descended 
the stream at the rate of sixty-five miles a day, or about two and three 



INVASION OP FLORIDA BY SOTO. 



531 



quarter miles per hour during the twenty-four hours; which is about a 
fair allowance, as they did not continue under way during the whole night 
except at particular times. 

They also used their oars on certain occasions with all the strength they 
could apply to them; and their sails, when the wind served; but we know 
not how to estimate the additional velocity thus acquired. It probably, 0 
during the voyage, would not compensate for the time they lost, by stop 
ping for five or six hours during the nights they were on the river, when 
not pursued by the Indians in their canoes. 

But if it be still thought that they ought to have descended the Missis- 
sippi at a greater rate than sixty-five miles per day, we can only support 
our conjecture by this supposition that they either stopped, or were de- 
tained a longer time than we have allowed, or that they have omitted 
other delays in the descriptions they have given us. But cceteris paribus, 
the difficulty will be two fold, to reconcile their voyage to have been from 
Red river; and this being negatively established, it will follow, that Ami- 
noya must have been just above the Arkansaw; for I think it impossible 
that any other river can be brought within the bounds of their expedition 
on the land.* 

* Since writing the above, I feel satisfied, from the following authority, that 
their actual progress down the Mississippi according to our estimate, con- 
firms the position of Aininoya to have been above the Arkansaw. 

"The general currentof the Mississippi (Stoddard, Sketches of Louisiana, 371,) 
is from 3^ to 4 miles an hour. In low water, a boat will float down at the 
rate of from 45 to 50 miles in twenty-four hours. In high water, from 90 to 
100, and at a mean height, from 60 to 70 miles. Between the Arkansaw and 
the Delta, the velocity of the current is 1-3 less, and from the Delta to the 
outlet by nearly one half." 



THE END, 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

COMPLEXION AND APPEARANCE OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 

Osteologic and Physiognomic characters, 13 — Of the term copper colour, 15; 
Indians are generally brown men, 19— Aboriginal whites, 20 — Albinoes, 23-— 
Aboriginal blacks, 24 — Beards, and customs concerning it, 28 — Skins, punc- 
tured, 29 — Ears, cut and stretched, 29 — Flattened heads, 29 — Legs bound by 
ligatures, 30 — Holes cut in the cheeks, &c. 30 — Observations on physiological 
character, 31. 

CHAPTER II. 

LANGUAGES OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 

Defects of vocabularies, 33 — Classification of Indian languages, 36 — 
Syntactic constructions, 40 — Indian grammatical forms, 41 — pronouns, 42 — 
nouns, 44 — adjectives, 46 — verbs, 47 — circumstantial forms, 50 — contracted 
phrases, 54 — Richness of forms, 57 — forms whether peculiar, 59 — miscella- 
neous additions, 61. 

CHAPTER III. 

ON THE BARBAROUS INDIAN TRIBES. 

Introduction to the subject, 64 — Habitations of the Indians, 69 — Agricul- 
ture and aliment, 74 — Clothing, 80 — Manufactures in general, 84 — Amuse- 
ments, gymnastical, 86 — Gambling, 88 — Dancing and music, 88 — Tobacco, 
91 — Chewings of different kinds, 93 — Intoxicating drinks, 94— Vapour bath, 
97 — Marriages, &c. 97— Religion, 102 — Sacrifices, 104 — Priests or conjurers, 
105 — Idols, 107 — Painted or sculptured rocks, 109 — Temples, 111 — Sacred 
places, 1 12 — Burial, 113 — Division of time, 117 — Government and law, 119 — 
Chiefs and hereditary dignities, 122 — War, 12S — Weapons, 131 — Armour, 
136— Fortified towns, 137— Scalping, 138— Prisoners, 141— Peace, 144 — 
Calumet and wampum belt, 144 — Traditional histories of the rude Indians, 
147. 

CHAPTER IV. 
ON THE NATCHEZ AND OTHER INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 

State of society in Soto's time, 150 — Habitations and manufactures, 151 — 
Agriculture and subsistence, 155 — Drinking, smoking, &c. 156— Govern- 
ment and classes of society, 156— Legislator of the Natchez, 157 — Religion, 
160— Perpetual fires, 162— Priests or conjurers, 162 — Temples, 162— Divi- 
sion of time and festivals, 163— Marriage, 165— Burial, 166— War, 167 — 
Weapons and fortifications, 167— Traditional history of the Natchez, 168. 
68 



534 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

INSTITUTIONS OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE. 

Of the nations inhabiting Anahuac, 115 — Forms of government, 180 — Re= 
publics, I81--Monarchies, 181— Electors, 182— Classes of people, 183 — 
Judges, 184— Taxes, 185— Slavery, 185— Couriers, 185— Dwellings, 185— 
Agriculture, 187 — Subsistence, smoking, amusements, &c. 188— Manufac- 
tures and arts, 189— Dress, 191— Commerce, 191 — Marriages, births, burial, 
194 — War and weapons, 198 — Astronomical calendars, 201 — Hieroglyphic 
system, 201 — Civil calendar, 202— Religious calendar, 206— Intercalation 
of the Mexicans, 208 — Persian cycle, 217 — cycle of 600 years, 218 — Secular 
festivals, 223 — Religion of the Mexicans, 225 — Mexican Deities, 227 — Sa- 
crifices, 244 — Penances, 246— Priests, 246 — Monks and nuns, 248 — Temples, 
249 — Pyramids of Cholula and Teotihuacan, 252 — Disquisition on temples, 
253— Cosmogonal traditions and history of the Toltecs, Mexicans, &c. 260. 

CHAPTER VI. 

ON THE PEOPLE OF GUATEMALA. 

Nations inhabiting Guatamala, 274 — Forms of government and laws, 282 
—Wars and weapons, 286 — Customs and manner of living, 288— Manufac- 
tures, 291 — Commerce, 293— Architecture, 294 — Ruins of Palenque, 294 — 
Hieroglyphics, 301— Books, 303 — Dresden Manuscript, 304 — Astronomy, 307 
—Religion, 308— Confession of sins, 309— Baptism, 310— Sacrifices, 312— 
Consecrated bread, 313— Priests and monks, 315 — Temples, 315 — Deities, 
317— Triad, 319— Crosses, 322— Origin of Guatemalan civilization, 336. 

CHAPTER VII. 

ON THE MUYSCAS. 

General civilization, 342— Bochica, 344— Calendar of the Muyscas, 347 
—Sacrifices and religious procession, 353. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

INSTITUTIONS OF THE PERUVIANS. 

Polity of the Peruvians, 357— Agriculture, 357— Classes of people, 360— 
Succession to the throne, 361 — Palace of the Inca, 362 — Manufactures and 
clothing, 364 — Balsas and lamas, 367 — Architecture and public works, 368 
—Roads, 369 — Aqueducts, 370— War and weapons, 371— Astronomy, 373— 
Quippos, 374— Social habits, &c. 376— Marriage, 378— Funeral ceremonies, 
380— Religion, 381— Deities, 382 — Temples, 385— Priests and conjurers, 387; 
Sacrifices, 388— Virgins of the sun, 389— Festivals, 390— Bloody bread, 394 
— Lustration, 395 — Traditional history, 397— Deluge, 398 — Manco Capac, 
400 — Amazons, 407 — Bearded men, 408. 

CHAPTER IX. 

TRACES OF UNKNOWN CIVILIZATION IN SOUTH AMERICA. 

Monuments in Venezuela, 410 — Civilization at Paria, 410— Carved rocks, 
411 — Amazonian emeralds, 412— Panoes, &c. 413 — State of our research, 416. 

CHAPTER X. 

ON THE MANNER IN WHICH MEN AND ANIMALS REACHED AMERICA, 

On the origin of man and animals, 418 — Of domestic animals, 425 — Diffi- 
culties attending the peopling of America, 427— Animals are peculiar to 
every part of the globe, 429— Islanders of the Pacific ocean, 435— On canoes 



s 



CONTENTS. 



535 



driven by tempests, 439— Geological views of disruptured land, 447 — Ob- 
servation on plants of South sea islands, 449 — On the islands of the Atlantic 
ocean, 45G— Peleg, 457— General deductions from the whole research, 46 L 

APPENDIX I. 

ON THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL CHARACTER OF THE AGES 
PRECEDING THE DISPERSION FROM BABEL. 

Condition of society at the dawn of history, 465 — Ancient astronomy, 467 
— Yugs of the Hindus, 467— Epoch of the Caly Yug, 469— Ancient measures, 
470 — Music, 470— Theory of intellectual character before dispersion, 472— 
Nature of religion prior to the dispersion, 474 — Natural religion, 474 — Iden- 
tity of system among all pagans, 475 — Paganism is the corrupted religion of 
the Patriarchs, 477 — Sacrifice of Huitzilopochtli, 477 — Similar principle re- 
cognised by many other nations, 478 — Of Osiris, Adonis, &c. 478— Corrupted 
traditions of Messiah, 484— Origin of idolatry, 477, 486 — Pagan mysteries, 
486 — Mystical regenerations, 489 — Sacrificial communions, &c. 489 — Pro- 
metheus, 493— Pillars, 495— Matzaubeh, 495— Obelisks, 496— Cross, 499— 
General observations, 499. 

APPENDIX II. 

ON THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF NORTH AMERICA. 

Extent of these remains, 502— Of the mounds, 503 — Fortifications, 505— 
Cultivated grounds, 508 — Deserted towns, 509 — Stone buildings, 509— Spe- 
culation on these monuments, 511 — Skeletons and mummies, 516 — Contents 
of the mounds, 517 — Traditions of the Delaware Indians, 521— Capt. Batt's 
expedition, 522 — Great wars among the Indians, 522. 

APPENDIX III. 

ON THE EXPEDITION OF SOTO TO FLORIDA. 

Soto arrives in Florida, 523— Departure from Aminoya, 529— -Conjectures 
on the locality of Aminoya, 529. 



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